Protection
by turtlechick
Summary: This was going to be the hardest mission either of us had ever received; protecting two spoiled and immature high school girls. AU Nejiten, Shikatema.
1. Cracker Box

_Here's the story that won my pole.  
__This is actually the one I was rooting for so I'm glad it won. :)  
I hope you all enjoy it!  
I'm pumped to start writing it. lol_

_Pairings: Nejiten, Shikatema._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...dang._

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Protection

Chapter 1

By: turtlechick

-Neji

We were both called to our bosses office to get our next assignment. Both us being my self, Neji Hyuuga, and my partner, Shikamaru Nara. We both had been a part of the military since I was eight and he was ten. For most of our life it has been all that we have ever known. This was just going to be another one of those missions that sent us to some desolate part of the world where our mission was to kill some drug peddler and then we'd come back and get sent to yet another place, routine stuff. Now it was expected.

Our boss, Tsunade, the only women to ever head up our department. She ran it with an iron fist and took no crap from anyone. You knew not to mess with her, unless of course you want to be assigned the worst missions. We stepped into her office and we both saluted out of habit.

"Hello boys." This was a rare time that I had seen her with a smile on her face. I didn't know what that was all about yet.

"Ma'am." We said in unison.

She smirked at the both of us. "Boys I have your new mission for you." We waited for further instructions. "This will be your mission." She handed us two files, one to Shikamaru and the other to me. Attached to the file I was given was a picture of a girl. She didn't look any older than me and had chocolate brown hair held up in two twin buns. She was sticking her tongue out at the camera and was waving. She looked childish and juvenile to say the least. I opened the file to see her name, 'Tenten Mitarashi.'

Shikamaru switched me folders and I took a look at the next file. This time the picture was of a blond. She wore her hair in four ponytails and had a toothy grin on her face while giving the peace sign towards the camera. Her name was 'Temari Suna.' I still didn't get it, were we supposed to kill them? Was this some sort of assassination mission?

"Now I'm sure that you're both a little confused." She was putting it lightly. "These two girls are the daughters of two very important world leaders." In other words, they paid the bills. "Over the past few months their fathers have received many threats on their life, all from the same person. I believe you know his name, Orochimaru. He's been giving requests for money before he takes them and doesn't know if he'll give them when he does take them."

"So he's moved on from selling illegal weapons to kidnapping?" Shikamaru said. We had run into Orochimaru a few times in the past. Actually I had met him on my very first mission. This didn't sound like his sadistic self at all. Although in some ways it did. He was always up for causing others pain and making a quick buck.

"Yes. Now I'm sure you're both still wondering about your mission? Your assignment is to protect these two girls until Orochimaru and who ever else is plotting to capture these two is apprehended."

"With all due respect Tsunade should we really be looking after these two when we would be most suited to be on the field tracking down Orochimaru? Neji and I have been in this long enough to not be being playing babysitter to a few high school girls." What Shikamaru said was true, we had always been sent into the field, heck we hadn't ever done a protection job before.

"I'm sorry but their fathers asked for the best and besides I have my utmost trust in you two. I know that you will be able to fulfill this mission." I heard the door open behind us. "Ah good Shizune, I almost forgot." Shikamaru looked behind us to see Tsunade's assistant, Shizune with two identical outfits in her arms.

"What are those?" I asked, not knowing if I wanted the answer.

"Those, are your uniforms. Congratulations boys you're going to high school." We had never been to public school before. In the military most of the things you learned in school wasn't used. The two of us weren't stupid, on the contrary, Shikamaru and I were two of the smartest people on the force. Shikamaru's I.Q. is higher than mine but nonetheless we're both geniuses in our own right. "We need you both to be able to stay close to them without arising too much suspicion. You will be enrolled in their high school and stay with them at all times. It has already been set up to make sure that at least one of you is in each of their classes." I was sure that the looks on our faces were priceless. This was something we had never done before. "A jet outside is waiting to take you to the drop off point." She paused and smiled at the two of us. "Dismissed."

On our way out of the room Shizune gave us our uniforms and then escorted us to the landing strip where our belongings and jet was waiting for us. This was going to be hardest mission either of us had ever received.

:::

We landed in a secluded area that was surrounded by trees but seemed fairly modern. With the brand new pavement. We stepped off the plane with our bags in hand and at the end of the runway were our two charges. I was able to get a look at the both of them while we walked towards them.

Temari had a good six inches on Tenten. She was leaned up against the black SUV that sat behind them. She wore a purple skirt and a rhinestone covered white t shirt. On her feet looked like the most uncomfortable heels I had ever seen. Not practical for scouring the desert for a mad man.

Tenten sat on the hood with a smile on her face. Her hair still up in those buns. I noticed her ensemble as she swung her legs of the side off the car. She was wearing khaki cargo pants and a simple red t shirt on top with sneakers on her feet. I could see her brown eyes from my position.

When we were standing right in front of them it was silent. I wondered who would speak first, and finally Temari did. "Is this a joke?" She slid her sunglasses over her nose to reveal her blue eyes. "Are you two really our body guards? This must be a joke."

"This is no joke ma'am." I said.

"So you two are seriously supposed to in the military. You don't look any older than the both of us."

"Yes it's true we are both the same age."

"This is ridiculous." The blond rubbed her temples.

"Look we don't want to be here any more than you so if we can just get this over with." Shikamaru said, he had been silent this whole time.

"Good so we agree on something." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. She shot him a crafty smile.

"Looks like it."

"So what are your names? I'm sure you know ours already."

"I'm Shikamaru Nara and this is Neji Hyuuga." Temari looked the two of us over while Tenten just sat on the hood and smiled. She hadn't stopped since we got off the place, I could see it when we stepped off. Didn't she know who was after her? Wasn't she at all scared?

"Fine let's go. I'm driving." Shikamaru said. I don't think I'd seen him this angry except for the time that a bunch of raccoons had eaten our food one time we waited for a drug deal to go down and we left our campsite. It was the only civilization for thirty miles. He had always been lazy except when it came to his job. He always knew what was expected of him and did his best despite his wants.

I saw Temari and Tenten exchange a quick smile. "Ok." She was way _too _happy and cooperative now. Something was up.

In the car ride Temari got in the front with Shikamaru while I was stuck in the back seat with Tenten, who was still smiling. I tried to ignore her by looking out the window but it didn't quiet work.

"So are you having fun?" She asked me.

"Not really." I said nonchalantly.

"Well why not?" I could hear the smile drop from her face.

"Like we explained earlier, we don't want to be here."

"Fine then." I turned to her, she was now staring out the window with her arms crossed over her chest.

:::

We stopped at an apartment complex right in the middle of the city. It was a tall brick building with a large steps that lead up to the door. The people around were all dressed nicely and there was a small doorman greeting people as they entered.

We stepped into the elevator and Temari pushed the number six, the top floor and the elevator shook as we started our ascent. When we stepped out there was only one door to go in.

"Where are the other rooms?" Shikamaru asked.

"We own the whole floor, duh." Temari said unlocking the door she held the door for Tenten but let it swing in Shikamaru's face. Yes, this mission was going to be very hard, we were stuck with two brats.

Inside the room was luxurious room to say the least. When you first stepped in there was the five star kitchen, which I'm sure they had never used. Farther in was the living room filled with enough electronics to be considered a store. "Down that hallway is your room." Temari pointed down a hallway to the room on the end. I saw Tenten bite her lip, but there was still a smile on her face.

So Shikamaru and I grabbed our bags and went to the room assigned to us, but when we opened the door a broom fell out. "Oops. sorry I guess that's the broom closet." Temari yelled from the living room, she and Tenten were laughing hysterically.

There was no doubt in my mind that this would be a hard mission, not just because of the cracker box that was coming after the two people were supposed to be protecting, but the fact at that very moment I wanted them to be kidnapped. Just so I didn't have to take care of them. But a mission is a mission and we must complete this one like all the others.

* * *

_Let the brutal but ultimatly embarrasing torture begin!  
If any one has any suggestions for pranks that they can pull on the boys, I might put them in. :)  
I have a few ready but I think the more the merrier! lol  
Well I hope you liked it and don't worry it will pick up._

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	2. High School's a drag

_Hey I'm back!  
I got this one up pretty quick.  
I'm not that proud of this chapter because humor is not my strong suit. :(  
I had a little bit of fun with it though. XD  
__Btw: **Tentenperson **I hope you don't mind I tweaked your idea a bit. lol  
And if I didn't use your idea in this chapter i'll try to pop it in the next chapter.  
Enjoy!  
__  
Thanks to my reviewers; SaphireSage4Ever, Herbblade, Sucoona Jatchbomb, Tentenperson-shikamarugal, randomshow, and xmarachanx._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Protection

Chapter 2

By: turtlechick

-Neji

"Well don't you boys look strapping." She and Tenten giggled as we walked towards them. So she had done this? When we woke up this morning and put on our uniforms they were about three sizes too small, every part of the outfit clung to our body. It was uncomfortable and extremely embarrassing. "Your uniforms looked a little dirty so I stuck them in the washer. I hope you don't mind?" She and Tenten just kept smiling, I had doubts that we would be able to finish this mission. "Well come on, we don't want to be late for school." Temari linked arms with Tenten and threw the set of keys, over her shoulder, at Shikamaru.

"I guess I'm driving."

The car ride was mostly quiet except for the few times Tenten wasn't able to look away and busted out laughing at the sight of my clothes.

"Hey Ino." Temari had called someone on her cell phone. "Yeah, so do you have those things I asked for at the front door?" She got an evil smile on her face. "Thanks Ino see you when we get there." She shut her phone and said nothing.

"What was that all about?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh nothing, but you two will find out as soon as we get to school, It's just a friendly school welcome." That didn't sound so bad, but if Tenten and Temari had planned it, this was going to be unpleasant.

We got out of the car and walked slowly to the door, a few people stared, but it was probably just because of our tight clothes. Temari pushed open the doors and like it was on cue hundreds of girls threw themselves in Shikamaru's and my direction. They were squealing at frequencies I didn't even think existed and they tore at our clothes as they did so. I looked around for Tenten and Temari while we were being brutally assaulted.

They both were standing with a slender blond near the group. "Have fun boys! We'll see you in class! Good luck!" Temari yelled to the both of us and then she and the other two strolled off.

:::

-Shikamaru

I barely got to my first class alive. I never knew that high schools girls were so vicious. They were probably the reason that guys never wanted to go to school. My first class was History and when I walked through the door, late, I saw Temari sitting next to an empty desk. She waved at me.

"I'll take it you're the new student, Shikamaru Nara?" The teacher was middle aged, with a scruffy beard around the outside of his jaw. I nodded, people laughed at my clothes as I took my seat next to Temari. "Nice to meet you Mr. Nara."

She said nothing, but was trying hard not to laugh. "So Shikamaru at least your clothes fit a little bit better now." Those girls had tore at our clothes until they were shredded in a few places.

"Friends of yours?"

"If you want to call them that."

"That better be all that you have lined up for us." I said under my breath but I made sure she could hear me.

"Oh it's all I have set up." Good. "But I'm good at thinking on my feet."

:::

-Neji

My first class was with Mrs. Yuuhi, she was the math teacher. I only got class on time because the class room was a just down the hall, I'm not sure if Shikamaru had my luck. I quickly sat down at the only desk in the room which was luckily, right by the door. Tenten was on the other side of the room by the window.

The teacher began her lecture and I soon realized that I already knew how to do what she was instructing. It was just like calculating the trajectory of a long range shot, many variables were considered like; wind direction and speed they all came together so that the target could be reached. Kids didn't even need to go to this school, all they had to do was join the military. That taught you everything that you would ever need to know, as far as I was concerned.

I glanced at Tenten across the room… she looked confused to say the least. Her expression was somewhat afraid. I guess some people just didn't get it as easily as I did. Maybe she just join the military, it would do her some good.

:::

Our next class and we got to the class a little bit late. When we arrived in the gym we noticed that everyone was in a change of clothes, except for us.

"Oh that's right you haven't gotten your extra P.E. clothes yet." Temari said. "Let's see."

"I think the teacher is in her office. You could probably go down and get a uniform." Tenten said nicely.

"Oh yeah that's right." She snapped her fingers. "Just right in those doors boys." They instructed us to a pair of double doors that a few girls had just come out of. Were they doing this to be nice? Or was this just another joke? We needed a uniform so on the off chance that it was a true act of kindness, we had to trust them. So we started over to the doors and Shikamaru pushed them open. There was a long hallway at the end all hell broke loose; girls screaming, clothes being thrown at our faces were just a few things that happened.

We can barreling out of those same double doors and we were both completely out of breath. Right in front of where we stood was Tenten and Temari both had huge grins on their faces. "Oh sorry I guess we forgot to tell you that the teacher's office is in the girls locker room. Oops."

:::

After our very first day of school, ever we were both completely exhausted, all we wanted to do was go to our rooms and sleep. Well Shikamaru wanted to sleep, I just wanted to get away from those two.

"Where do you think you two are going?" Temari snapped. She had her hands on her hips and was glowering at the both of us.

"What now?" Shikamaru moaned.

"I thought you two were supposed to be trained soldiers or something and look at you. You can't even handle one day of high school. I told you it would be tough." She smirked, but Tenten was missing and then she stepped out in a white skirt and a tank top. "One of you has to take Tenten to tennis practice, and the other has to take me to my yoga class." I immediately grabbed Tenten's wrist and yanked her out the door. I didn't want to get stuck with Temari.

I drove Tenten to her tennis practice, when we both got into the car she turned the radio up loud and started singing along to whatever song was on the radio, whether she knew the words or not. About ten minutes into the ride and was wishing I had gone with Temari, I thought my ears were starting to bleed.

:::

-Shikamaru

"Yoga really? Is that some requirement for snotty rich girls?" I asked on the way to her, 'class.'

She snorted. "No, My grandma says I need to control my temper, so it's either this or anger management."

"Your grandma?"

"Yeah, she's a sweet little old lady on the outside but on the inside… she's the biggest bitch you will ever meet." So that's where she got her personality. "She gives good birthday presents though."

We pulled into the parking lot and walked in, Temari had her yoga mat under arm. In the room there were probably ten other women not including the instructor, a small petite woman. You could right away tell that she was from a different country because of her foreign accent.

"Oh Ms. Temari welcome." The small women spotted me next. "Will your friend be joining us?" The other ladies on the mats were doing complicated poses and holding them for long ridiculous periods of time. I tried to speak but Temari beat me to it.

"Yes, he will." She smiled at me.

"Oh good we always love to have visitors in our class. Right ladies?" The room was filled with, "Yes," from the women. "Just get a visitors mat from the back, young man." Great.

:::

-Neji

Tenten was good and that was just putting it lightly. It was obvious to see that this is where she excelled. No one in her age bracket was even close to her. Her strength was her incredible accuracy. She was always somehow able to aim the ball right where her opponent wasn't able to get to fast enough. Even some of the adults had trouble keeping up with her.

I had it pretty easy, all I had to was sit in the bleachers next to the courts and look out for any enemies. I did feel pretty stupid sitting up here all alone though. I wonder how Shikamaru was doing with Temari.

:::

-Shikamaru

About an hour into this anger management, I was about to kill Temari. I have never felt this stupid in my entire life. This made my confidence go really low, especially when a bunch of thirty year old women can do it better than you can. I kept falling and stumbling just to try and get into these absurd poses. I tried to quit a couple of times but that damn instructor wouldn't let me. She said, "It would benefit my chi if I stayed." It was all a bunch of bullshit.

* * *

_Well???  
I know it's not as good as the first chapter but the next chapter will get a little more into the plot :)  
So just hold out till then.  
I hope everyone liked it :)  
Thanks for reading . ;p_

_Please review and even if you don't please check out my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	3. Cooperation

_Ugh. I had to post this chapter fast so I didn't feel so bad about that last one.  
(It was awful)  
This chapter get's back into the swing of things. Yay!  
I hope you all like it. :)  
Thanks to my reviewers. :P_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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**Protection**

Chapter 3

By: turtlechick

-Neji

"Shikamaru Neji come quick!" Shikamaru and I were both in our rooms when we heard Tenten cry for help. We both looked at each other and thought the worse. I grabbed my gun off the nightstand and we ran to Temari's room where Tenten had called us. When got there Temari was on the bed, not moving.

"What the hell happened?" Shikamaru yelled.

"I don't know I just came in here and I found Temari like this." Tenten looked genuinely upset.

"Ok well stay here we'll go see if who ever did this is still in the perimeter. Neji go out the fire escape and I'll take the stairs." I nodded, agreeing with Shikamaru's order and we both started to out. I started out down the fire escape and Shikamaru was almost out the door when we both heard laughter. On the bed, where we had presumed one to be dead and the other upset, Tenten and Temari were laughing uncontrollably.

"You two are so gullible." Temari snorted, Tenten was right along with her.

"What's wrong with the two of you!?" Shikamaru screamed at the top of his lungs. Tenten stopped laughing but Temari didn't let up. "Do you even know what you're up against?!" Shikamaru was so upset, it startled me, usually he was so laid back.

"Come on Shikamaru it was just a joke." Temari said, serious now.

"This is no joke! Do you even know why we're here!?" He yelled again.

She giggled. "Yeah our Dad's are paranoid. We get threats on our life all the time. What makes this one any different?"

"I give up!" Now that was more like Shikamaru. He stormed out of the room, defeated. Temari left as well, and soon it was only Tenten and I left.

"Neji, this isn't some stalker like before, is it?" I turned around to see Tenten looking at her hands on her lap, scared.

"No it isn't, this is a serious situation." She shut her eyes tight. "Tenten, this is a mission for us and like every mission we've both had in the past we will complete it." I stepped out of the room and went back to my business..

:::

That day at school it was quiet, no pranks, no jokes, just… quiet. We had gotten new uniforms when a teacher had seen what had happened to ours, so I guess that was a good thing. Classes were normal today, nothing I couldn't handle. Again, Tenten lost her focus in Math today. If she kept this up she would fail for sure. Shikamaru had gone back to his self after the incident this morning and so had Temari. I could tell that Tenten was still a little bit shaken up, but that would be any normal person's reaction if they had just been told that a killer was coming after them.

When we got home it was better, and everyone seemed to be back to normal, well as normal as we could get. Shikamaru was sleeping on a couch while Tenten and Temari flipped through the channels on the TV. I just sat and meditated, I caught Tenten staring a few times. I guess that wasn't normal for a high school student. All of a sudden the phone rang. Temari jumped up and grabbed the phone off of the stand and answered it cheerfully. Tenten grabbed the remote, eager for her chance to decide what they would watch.

"Hello! Oh hi Grandma Chiyo. Yes. Yes I am. No. She's fine. Maybe… Ok, ok fine. Tomorrow? Well I don't know!" Tenten was now watching Temari wanting to know what she was discussing on the other line. "Fine." Temari slammed the phone down on the stand and stomped over to the couch.

"Who was that?" Shikamaru asked, I hadn't even realized that he had woken up.

"The old bat." Temari snapped.

"Temari you shouldn't call your grandma that. I think she's sweet." Tenten giggled behind her hand as she spoke. "What did she want?"

"She is most certainly not sweet! She invited us to some charity event, it's just another one of her schemes to set me up with some snotty, boarding school kid. It really get's on my nerves. But on the bright side you know what that means?" She smiled.

"Temari, wait, what do you mean by us?" Shikamaru was sitting up now.

"I mean all four of us. And now we have to go shopping for outfits!" Temari's smile grew.

Tenten threw herself backwards farther into the couch, with distaste. "Temari I don't want to go shopping can't we go tomorrow?" She whined.

"Tenten the event is tomorrow, we won't have any time to get ready. Now come on all four of you get up. We've got work to do." Temari rushed out of the room.

Tenten groaned. "We're all doomed." Was this shopping thing really so bad? Well I guess we would have to find out.

:::

Now I know what Tenten meant by doomed, my legs felt better after walking through a desert with no water than shopping with Temari. This was pure hell, it was almost worse than our first day of high school. I didn't even think that there were that many stores in a single place and to make matters worse, we weren't done yet. Temari had picked out clothes for herself and Shikamaru and I but we still had Tenten to go.

Temari had complained that she was thirsty so we made our way to the food court where Tenten and I sat at a table while Shikamaru took Temari for something to drink. Actually it was more like Temari took Shikamaru, when she dragged him away by the arm. It was silent at the table as we sat.

"Do you not like math?" I asked out of the blue.

She blushed. "Is it really that obvious. Well I guess it should be. I've had problems with math for as long as I can remember."

"I see."

"My mother and father have tried everything; tutors, extra help from the teacher, but none of it has helped. I think I'm just doomed to stink at math for the rest of my life." She banged her head on a table, but then realized her mistake and rubbed her forehead. I couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe it just the tutor." I suggested.

"I doubt that. I've had at least ten of them." She mumbled the last part.

"Tenten, it's quality not quantity. You just have to find someone that can teach you in a way that you understand."

"Yeah like who?"

"Me." I was up for a challenge and so far this mission hadn't presented me with one. If the military could teach me math then I could teach it to Tenten.

Her eyes got wide. "You would really do that for me?!" Her grin lit up her whole face. I nodded. "Oh thank you Neji!"

"What's going on over here?" Temari had her straw in her mouth when she asked the question.

"Neji said that he would tutor me!" Was it really that big of a deal?

"Good luck Neji." Temari chuckled.

"Temari!" Tenten whined.

Temari laughed again. "Sorry Tennie… but come on let's get going we still have a job to do." Tenten sighed and followed Temari down the mall. Shikamaru and I exchanged glances. These two certainly were strange.

As we walked down the mall I noticed for the first time that people were staring, but not as us, but at Tenten and Temari. Shikamaru noticed it as well and asked.

"You boys don't know it, but you just happen to be with this city's most popular socialites."

"Socialites?" I asked.

"Yes. A socialite is someone who goes to events, charity things and any other kind of gathering. In this town there are the uptown socialites, and the downtown crowd. They're both very different but we dabble in both lifestyles." Temari said as we walked down the mall. "Actually my brothers live downtown."

"You have brothers?" I guess we had missed that part in her file.

"Yes two, Gaara and Kankerou. You'll meet them eventually. Now stop talking we have another store to go to."

:::

We had finally gotten done shopping. It was late the sun had already set and we were on our way to the car in the parking garage.

"Damn." Temari cursed. Her shoes had slipped off. She was having trouble getting all of the straps back in the right spot and she told us to go ahead to the car. Us, meaning Shikamaru and myself, because we were holding their purchases. We agreed and went ahead to the car. They were taking a long time getting Temari's shoe fixed and that's when we heard what was really holding them up.

"Hey ass hole let us go!" That was Temari and in the back ground we could also hear a scream coming from Tenten. We dropped everything and raced in the direction that we had left them.

"The boss told us they might have some security." One of them chuckled when they saw us barreling around the corner. He had Tenten in a chokehold with a gun pointed at her head. The other had Temari in the same position.

"And by boss do you mean Orochimaru?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes. So what are you going to do about it?"

"We're not going to do anything but you're going to let them go." I added to the conversation.

"Yeah right like we would do that." One of them said.

"Well at least take the gun away from their head. You can't kill them, that would be the end of the bargain for your boss." They obeyed and now pointed the gun at us but still held them tight. Tenten's eyes were shut tight. Temari was trying to get free but the man just held on tighter. "Now put down your gun and let them go." Shikamaru demanded.

"Hey we've got the guns what makes you think that you can gives us the orders?" He shook the gun at our faces.

"Because you can either put down the guns and fight like men or be taken down like a coward with that gun your hand." I said as I narrowed my eyes.

"You're bluffing!" One of them screamed. We were getting to him.

"Would you like to bet your life on it?" Shikamaru said. A shot went off but we had dodged it easily. We were behind their backs in an instant and I pushed on a few pressure points to make him let go of Tenten and she fell to the floor. The man whipped around and my fist slammed into his jaw, he was out, just like that. Shikamaru had gotten the gun out his opponent's hand and was now in the middle of hand to hand combat. Shikamaru easily took him down with a single blow to the stomach and he keeled over in pain.

"Are you alright Tenten? Are you hurt?" She shook her head, eyes still shut. "Tenten you can open your eyes now." She opened one eye and then slowly, the other. She saw the man unconscious on the floor and let out a sigh of relief. I helped her to her feet. Temari was fine now as well and Shikamaru dusted himself off.

"Now, I hope that we can get some more cooperation out of the two of you."

* * *

_Well that was much better. Whew lol  
Thanks for reading this chapter :)  
I hope you all enjoyed it!_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	4. Snotty Hankies

_Here's the fourth chapter.  
I got bored so I thought I would throw this one together. :)  
I hope you like it!  
Thanks to my awesome reviewers. XD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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**Protection**

Chapter 4

By: turtlechick

-Neji

"Well that was the most boring day of school…ever." Temari said exasperatedly when she slammed her bags down on the counter. She was right though. Today had gone on without a hitch. I was almost expecting that there would be another attack, after what happened yesterday. It was strange. It was also strange that now Tenten and Temari weren't even talking about what had happened, but there was an obvious difference in their attitude's towards us. It was almost like we were… friends. Other than Shikamaru I had never really had a friend before. Starting the military at such a young age I wasn't able to partake in all the same things that normal children got to. I guess I should feel lucky I finally get to live this part of my life, even if it is a little late.

We had a few hours before we had to get ready for this party that we had been invited to. I wasn't looking forward to it at all. I had never been a party person and neither had Shikamaru. When we were back at the base sometimes they held parties to celebrate a battle that was won. We had never gone to one though. I took this time, however, to have my first tutoring session with Tenten. My first impressions were that it wasn't going well, but she stuck with it, despite the fact that she continued to fail.

"Ok so what was the answer?" I had just given her a problem and gave her a few minutes to work through it.

"Um." She was stalling. She kept scribbling on the paper I had given her but I could tell that she was no closer to finishing the problem. "Um… four?" she managed to squeak out.

I sighed. "No." She groaned. Maybe I was just teaching her in different way that she needed to be taught, maybe I just needed to try a different approach. It was like a sniper shot, if you can't get your target at your current location, move to a different one. "Ok let's try this again. Let's say you're buying tennis balls." Her eyes perked up and she looked for me to continue. "One pack costs three dollars, but only comes with six balls. Now there is another package that cost five dollars but this one includes twelve balls. Now, which one is the better buy?"

She took a minute, counting on her fingers and counting silently in her head. It was amusing to watch her work go through every single scenario with as much thought as she could muster up. She suddenly snapped her fingers. "The one for five dollars is the better buy!" She exclaimed. I nodded and she jumped out her chair and ran out the room.

"Tenten?"

I could hear her screaming, "Temari I got one right! I got one right!" She was so excited about this one math problem.? I knew how I had to teach her, I had to make the problem relatable to her.

:::

It had gotten to be time for this damn party and Shikamaru looked just as excited as I was, which was little to none. We were waiting for Temari and Tenten on the couch when they finally came out. Temari had her hair in the normal style but a little more makeup than she normally wore. Temari was wearing a red dress with a halter top and a pair of tall stiletto heels. Tenten wore a loose but form fitting blue and white sun dress. She had on a pair of flats but what was most surprising about her outfit was her hair. It wasn't in the normal two buns but now in a high ponytail. Her hair draped over her shoulder and went all the way to her hip.

I couldn't believe that I knew all of the parts of their outfits. Before, a shirt, some pants, and a pair of shoes was all you needed. Here there was fashion you had to worry about. I had been around these two too long already.

"Let's get this over with." Temari said with a sigh.

"You were so excited about this yesterday, why is it so troublesome now?"

"Uh no, Shikamaru I was excited about shopping not about this stupid party." She mumbled.

"Look on the bright side Temari maybe your brothers will be there. Kankerou always seems to liven up a party." Tenten said with a smile.

"Yeah I doubt that my grandma would ever invite Kankerou to a party again. Remember when he started a cake fight at a charity ball that was raising money for an elderly home. My grandma was mortified." Temari chuckled at the memory.

"Oh well I think the old people enjoyed themselves." Tenten said. We had made our way to the car.

"Yes it was all fun and games until that man practically on his deathbed started to choke because he was laughing so hard, so yeah, don't count on them to come."

Tenten laughed again. "I almost forgot about that. I think that they blew it a little out of proportion. I mean they sent for three ambulances. It was a bit much." It was awkward for Shikamaru and I for to sit with them and reminisce when we hadn't been with them. All I could do was to continue to gaze out the window and Shikamaru just continued to drive. I kept an ear in the conversation though. There stories made me want to meet Kankerou and Gaara but on the other hand if the were a lot like Temari maybe it wasn't such a good idea. I don't know how much I could handle of the Suna family.

:::

"We're here." Shikamaru announced lazily when he pulled into the parking lot of the place that Temari had given him directions to. It was a pretty ritzy place. There were large steps and giant pillars leading up the actual party. I had never been to a place like this, but Tenten and Temari seemed to be right at home although they didn't want to be here.

Inside classical music was being played by a small orchestra shoved in the corner and in the middle of the room was a dance floor with people dressed formally swirling around the floor. The room was open and the ceilings were tall. Lining the ceiling were intricate crystal chandeliers. Around the room were small round tables covered by white cloths. Temari led us to a table where she plopped down and ordered a waiter, making his round, to bring us some sparkling water.

"Temari sit up straight! That's not how a lady should act!" Behind Temari was a extremely short wrinkly old woman, grandma Chiyo I presumed. Her face was scrunched up as she picked at Temari, but her face brightened up when she saw Tenten. "Oh Tenten child how are you?" She waddled over and gave Tenten hug.

"I'm good grandma Chiyo."

"Oh and you two must be their body guards." She narrowed her eyes at us and walked around the table examining us as she did so. "Hn."

She turned back around to Temari and her features went icy all over again.

"Temari stay in one place I have some young men that want to meet you and for goodness sake get your elbows off the table." She scurried off and as soon as she did the waiter came with Temari's sparkling water and Temari drank it down in one gulp.

"See what I mean?" She told us.

"Oh come Temari your grandma only wants you to be happy." Tenten tried to explain, but it didn't seem like that to me.

"Please Tenten, name one guy that she has set me up with that wasn't a total loser?" she widened her eyes at Tenten waiting for her response.

"Ok well what about that guy from last month, you know the model who wanted to be a lawyer, he seemed nice."

"Tenten." She paused. "He carried around a hanky… a hanky! And he used it on our date! I have never been so disgusted in my entire life. He even told me that he has had that handkerchief since he was in middle school. Now just imagine all the germs. No thank you." Temari crossed her arms over her chest and order another water from a passing waiter.

"Well I'm bored." Tenten announced standing up abruptly. "Come on Neji let's dance." She smiled and grabbed my hand before I could say no and pulled me to the dance floor. I had no idea what to do. I had never danced with a girl before, heck I hadn't ever danced before period. She saw that I was hesitating. "It's ok Neji, you just put your hands like this." She grabbed my hands and gently placed them on her delicate hips and then put her small hands around my neck. She then began moving her feet slowly to the music. "See this isn't so hard."

-Shikamaru

This party was a drag. The only half way amusing thing that was happening was watching Neji learn how to dance. He could kill ten men in under a minute but he couldn't dance. Temari seemed to be enjoying this party just about as much as I was. I think she was on her fifth glass of sparkling water. As she waited for the next one she examined her nails on an outstretched hand.

"Are miss Temari Suna?" I looked up to see a brown haired boy standing behind Temari. He was good looking and was dressed very nicely. Probably sent by Temari's grandmother.

"Who's asking?" Temari never took her eyes off of her nails.

"Your grandmother sent me." He replied shakily.

"Well then leave." Her words were sharp, like daggers.

"Wh-hy?" He managed to stutter out.

"Because I don't even have to turn around to see who you are. You're just some preppy, uptight, rich kid who thinks that money can buy any girl. You want to know how I know this?" He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to the punch. "Because that's just the type of guys that my grandmother always sets me up with. And if you were smart, like you probably are because your daddy has paid for your education, then you would leave because in about three seconds I'm going to turn around, and I'm already in a bad mood and…"

"Temari you can stop, he was gone at, 'and if you were smart.'"

"Good. Well at least he wasn't stupid like some of the others." She muttered.

"Do you do that to every guy you meet?"

She took her gaze away from her nails. "Did I do that to you? No, it's just the guys my grandmother sets me up with. I do know that she means well but she goes overboard sometimes… well no more like all the time."

"Sounds troublesome."

"You're telling me."

Neji and Tenten returned to the table. Neji had a frown on his face but Tenten had her signature smile on. It was almost ironic how different those two were. Neji has always been so quiet and uptight, but Tenten always so free and bubbly. Neji's never made himself put up with like her, he had always told me it was a chore. Maybe with Tenten it wasn't a chore for him.

Temari stood up, her chair made a loud scraping noise on the floor. "Come let's get out of here before my grandma sends another one of her suitors for me." She grabbed her purse off of the table and hurried out the doors, the rest of us hurrying to catch up. Well all of us except for Shikamaru, he kept at his own pace as we left the party.

We all got into the car and were headed back home when Tenten spoke, "Well that was fun!" I sure hope she was being sarcastic.

* * *

_So how was it? lol  
I think I like where this story is going :)  
After I update S.O.T.Y. I think I'll put up my next story** Belonging**.  
I hope you all liked it ;p_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out  
_


	5. Get Togethers

_I had no homework this weekend so I decided to do some writing :)  
Just a short little chapter nothing major.  
This whole chapter is from Shikamaru's point of view becuase he was being neglected a tad. lol  
Thanks to my reviewers.  
Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

**

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**

**Protection**

Chapter 5

By: turtlechick

- Shikamaru

"Come on Tenten let's go change." Temari started to walk off to her room with Tenten in tow. We had just gotten home from another day at school and still there was no attack. I wonder if we had scared them off. It didn't seem like Orochimaru at all, but he had surprised us in the past.

"Wait, change for what?" I asked.

She put her finger to her chin. "Oh yeah I guess we forgot to tell you two."

"Tell us what?" Neji asked.

"We're having a get together with the rest of our friends." Tenten said. "Yeah you get to meet everyone like; Temari's brothers and Ino and Matsuri and Kiba and Sasuke and Sakura and…" Temari had hit her on the back of the head to shut her up. "Ow Temari that really hurt." Tenten said rubbing her head.

"We're having a party to welcome Sakura back. She's been in Prague studying medicine for like a year now." Temari explained.

"Yeah she's like super smart."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Yeah so hurry up and change already." Temari pushed us backwards towards our room. So far I wasn't sure if this was going to be an enjoyable experience or one I was going to regret, but we went to change anyway. We got done before them, there was no surprise there and finally they came out. Both of them dressed casually in just a pair of jeans and nice shirts.

:::

Temari told me to stop at a small café, it was quite a ways away from the apartment. Temari had told us that this part of town was actually downtown. It was the complete opposite of where they lived. Here the streets were dirty and homeless people were on every street corner. The trash cans were overflowing with garbage. The shops were small, nothing like the mall. Temari had said that most of the stores downtown were run by small families and passed down from generation to generation. The people also dressed a lot differently here too. Uptown people dressed in the most flashy, fashionable clothes they could find, here, neutral colors were all the craze.

Tenten opened the door and a small brunette appeared out of nowhere. They grabbed each other's hands and continued to jump up and down, and at the same time screaming at the top of their lungs.

"You're always late Temari." Said a slender blond from a small table, around her were more people staring right at us.

"You know me Ino. I'm always fashionably late." Temari approached the group and left Neji and I at the door. Temari hugged a few of the people; like the blond and two brown and redheaded boys.

"So Temari are you going to tell us who your friends are?" The same brown haired boy said, flashing us the same toothy grin that Temari had, must be one of her brothers.

Temari slapped her forehead. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, guys this is Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuuga, they're classmates of Tenten and mine." It got quiet as the group looked us over and assessed us.

"Oh yeah you two must be those body guards my father hired." The brown haired boy said, so much for our cover. "I'm Kankerou, Temari's brother. I hope she isn't giving you too much trouble," he laughed, "well if we're talking about my sister here, she's probably giving you hell. Let me introduce you to the rest of the gang, since my sister doesn't have the courtesy to do so." He threw an arm around our necks, Temari stuck her tongue out him.

He pointed to the red haired boy first, "That's my little brother Gaara." He gave us a wave. Next he motioned towards the small brunette that Tenten had screamed with when we first entered the place. "That little mouse over there is Matsuri. She's dating my brother. Blonde over there is Ino, she's a bitch, watch out for her." He snickered at his comment.

"I heard that!" She yelled.

He laughed again, he was everything that Tenten and Temari had described. I could see why he wasn't invited to those classy parties anymore, even if he was family. "The kid with the dog is Kiba, his pup's name is Akamaru." Next to a chubby kid was a boy with a with dog on his lap. "The kid munching on a bag of chips next to them is Chouji." There was only two left now; a boy with jet black hair and guy with a bowl shaped hair cut with awfully bushy eyebrows.

"That kid who looks like he's got stick jammed up his butt is Sasuke, I'm really wondering he actually does have a stick up his butt." He whispered that last part. "And last but not least is Lee… all I can say is don't, get, him, started." Started on what? "Well that's it." He took arm from our necks and pushed us towards the middle of the small café.

We sat next to the bushy eye browed kid and Sasuke. Lee immediately started to talking to Neji and it was apparent why Kankerou had said not to get him started. This kid wouldn't stop talking, Neji was getting pretty fed up with him. If he wasn't a civilian then Neji probably would have punched him. Neji was good at controlling himself. Tenten came up and sat in between them.

"Lee are you bothering Neji?" She said with a smile.

"Oh of course not youthful blossom, we were just having a conversation. Right Neji?" He shot him a thumbs up.

"Yes."

"Oh good. Hey Sasuke when is Sakura supposed to get here?"

"Any minute now."

"I bet you missed her a lot?" Tenten said.

"Yes." It was hard to hear him. Just then a girl with pink hair entered the café. She had emerald eyes and dressed nicely. It took her a minute to actually look around at her surroundings to realize that the place was filled with her closest friends.

"You guys!" She finally said. All of the girls got up to give her a hug then she went straight for Sasuke and gave him a big kiss on the lips. I now realized what that whole conversation was all about before. Lee was now sobbing on Neji's shoulder, Neji tried to inch away but Lee just kept crying.

"Oh it's alright Lee." Tenten said trying to comfort him.

She was perched on Sasuke's lap. "So who are you two?" She sure was observant.

"Sakura, these are our personal bodyguards, Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuuga." Temari said from behind me.

"Oh. Well nice to meet you."

The rest of day was spent with everyone else asking Sakura questions about her trip in Prague. Since Neji and I had no place in this party we sat away from the group and drank coffee. It was awkward, I had gotten the impression that they had all known each other for a long time. It was just something that Neji and I had never been introduced to, long time friendships. Neji was the only person I had known for more than a year.

"Do you think you two can just not participate or what? Get your butt's back over there." Temari and Tenten had come up to us. "You aren't going to make friends by being unsocial and sitting in the corner. Hey Neji, my brother want's to arm wrestle you."

Neji took Kankerou's challenge for an arm wrestling match. It was pretty evenly matched like I had predicted, but in the end Neji overpowered him. Kankerou was a good sport about it and they shook hands afterwards. Tenten raised Neji's arm in the air and the others clapped. I spent most of the day with Chouji. He was easy to get along with and proved to be able to give me a good conversation. It seemed like the time went too quickly because before I knew it everyone was gone and only the four of us were left.

The ride home was quiet, Tenten fell asleep on Temari's lap in the backseat while Neji spoke about nothing quietly in the front seat. I knew that we were getting a small chance for a teenage life, but I just hope we didn't get too used to this life. Like every mission before this one, it had to come to an end. We couldn't become too comfortable or we might risk the two girl's lives sitting in the backseat … and we couldn't let that happen.

* * *

_Like I said nothing major.  
And I couldn't resist adding a few more couples in the mix.  
They won't be major, just a little spice. lol  
Hope you all enjoyed it._

_Please review and even if you don't check out my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	6. Desserts Make Everything Better

_I was invited to go to the 'As I Lay Dying' concert but I couldn't go. T_T  
You wanna know why?  
Cuz my mom said I probably would have gotten killed in the mosh pit. lol  
Which is probably true knowing how klutzy I am.  
It's ok though since heavy metal is not really my scene. :) lol  
Well here's the sixth chapter.  
It's really just a filler and nothing really happens. lol  
Thanks to my reviewers :)  
ENJOY!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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**Protection**

Chapter 6

By: turtlechick

-Neji

The sun beat down hard on the crowd as we all watched the tournament in front of us. Today, Tenten was participating in a tennis tournament. The bleachers were filled to the brim with spectators watching their children, loved ones, or in our case friend. Tenten was doing well, like she always does, but the competition was tough as well. Dressed in a white skirt and a red polo t shirt, Tenten skipped around the court returning ball after ball right back to her opponent. It was obvious to see that she was the crowd favorite.

"Come on Tenten show 'em who's boss!" Temari hadn't stopped cheering for Tenten since we had arrived. Tenten shot a smile in the stands every chance she got. I think she felt grateful that she had two extra people there to support her. Other than her father, I didn't even know if she had any other relatives.

Temari had told us that Tenten had been competing in these tournaments for as long as they had both been friends. Over the years Tenten had gathered quite the fan base. In the stands with us were those fans holding signs with her name on it. Temari never left the stands, anytime she needed something she made one of us go and fetch it. She wanted to make sure that she was cheering Tenten on every step of the way.

:::

It was the final match of the tournament and Tenten had made it all the way, but when they announced who she would be playing against, her face went from carefree to terrified. She would be playing against a girl named Tayuya.

"Damn." Temari cursed, she had sat down for the first time today.

"Temari who is she?" Shikamaru asked for the both of us. I had never seen or heard about her any time I had taken Tenten to her tennis practices.

"A bitch is who she is. That girl has been causing Tenten problems ever since their first match. Her name's Tayuya and she goes to our rival school. They both started tennis around the same time, actually they played each other in Tenten's very first tournament. Tenten won, and Tayuya got pissed. Tenten has never been able to beat her again. And top it all off she's a bitch."

"I think you said that Temari." Shikamaru said.

"Well she is! That girl has no sportsmanship whatsoever."

A girl with scrappy salmon colored hair stepped onto the court and locked eyes with Tenten. Tenten said nothing but looked away. The match started and first they rallied the ball back and forth, it took a long time for one of them to actually score a point. Tenten got the first one but that made Tayuya even more competitive. The whole game was close the entire time but Tayuya only needed one more point to win. Tenten was nervous, she had lost her grace and was stumbling to get the ball.

"Come on Tenten show that bitch who's boss!" Temari screamed from the sidelines. Tayuya shot her a glare and Temari sent one back. Tayuya served the ball again and Tenten struggled to send it back over, she had gotten backed into a corner and now most of her court was wide open. Tayuya sent the ball back over again and Tenten tried her hardest to get to it in time but tripped in the process. Tayuya had won the game and the crowd was devastated. Tenten's back was to us when she fell but as she stood and turned around you could see a trail of blood trickling down from her knee.

It was customary for the players to give a handshake after the game and Tenten hobbled to the net to do so. She stuck her hand over the net and waited for Tayuya's. She took one look at Tenten's hand and walked off. What a bitch. Tenten limped to the bench where a medic wrapped up her knee. Temari was gone in a flash to meet Tenten on the court.

:::

Back at the apartment the atmosphere was a lot different from what it usually is. Right about now Tenten and Temari would have turned the radio up as loud as it would go and be dancing around the room. Sometimes they would grab the two of and make us join in, but not today. When we got home Tenten went straight to her room. Temari had tried to offer her some ice cream but Tenten refused, which was unlike her since we had just bought her favorite flavor, strawberry.

The three of were sitting on the couch when the phone rang and Temari jumped up and rushed to answer it. "Hello. Oh, hi, long time no see. Yeah hold just a minute." Temari held the phone to her chest. "Tenten the phones for you!" She screamed to her. Temari's smile was as wide as Tenten's was normally. She hung up the phone and joined us on the couch.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Anko." She answered, smile still wide. We had no idea who that was. "Her mom. She's been backpacking in Bali for six months now. She'll cheer Tenten right up."

"Temari have you and Tenten always been close?" Shikamaru asked out of the blue. From the way they act together I guessed that they had always been friends.

"Nope. When Tenten first moved here I can honestly say that I hated her."

"What?" That was extremely hard to believe.

"Yeah, when Tenten moved here I super jealous. I had always been the most popular girl uptown, but when she came it was all about her. I talked bad about her, spread nasty rumors and was downright mean to her. One day we were assigned as partners for a school project and have been friends ever since. You two have met her, it's hard to hate a girl that smiles as much as she does. I think that's why Tayuya bothers her so much. She's used to people liking her so when one person doesn't, she get's upset." I had thought that Tenten was upset because she had lost, but really it was because this girl didn't like her? Any normal person would have been upset for that reason but not Tenten.

Tenten finally came out of her room with her usually smile back on her face.

"What did your mom say Tenten?" Temari asked.

"Nothing important. She's going to be in Brazil for a while, but she plans to be home in time for Christmas. Oh and she says she can't wait to meet the two of you." I didn't have the heart to tell Tenten that the mission would probably be over by Christmas. "I'm in the mood to cook what do you guys want to eat?" She asked cheerfully.

"Cook?" I could remember when we first arrived and saw that five star kitchen. I was sure that it was all for show. We had eaten at restaurants or gotten takeout during the time we had been here.

"Yeah Neji, you don't think that we just have that massive kitchen just for looks? Tenten is a great cook." Tenten had opened the colossal fridge and was sifting through the ingredients. "Hey Tenten you should make them that cake thing you made for your mom the last time she came to visit."

"You mean crème brulee?" She added.

"Yeah that was awesome. You two just wait it's delicious!" Temari gushed. Tenten immediately grabbed a few bowls and ingredients and started to make the dish. She flitted around the kitchen like a pro while the three of us watched in awe. When it was done she placed it on four plates and set them in front of us. I was wary of the dish, the thing on my plate was round and jiggly. I wanted nothing to with it, but when Tenten and Temari started eating theirs, I elbowed Shikamaru to eat his first. He sighed and took a bite and then another. I guess it wasn't poisonous… I scooped up a little on my spoon and slowly put it in my mouth. It was actually pretty good, no, it was amazing.

"How is it Neji?" Tenten asked me, she had seen that I had eaten almost the whole thing already.

"Good." I said nonchalantly.

Temari busted out laughing. "You liar! Look at your plate, it's practically gone! Tenten he loved it."

Tenten's smile got even bigger.

"Hey Tenten why don't you make that peach tart? Your dad seemed to really like that one." Temari suggested.

"Ok!" She quickly cleaned her mess and started the process over again. If this tart was as good as this thing then the day was going to get a whole lot better. It was not only good because Tenten was making us these delicious foods but because she wasn't upset anymore. It was strange to see her without a smile on her face.

* * *

_See a whole lot of nothing but some Nejiten moments were sprinkled in there.  
I want to make this story pretty long so there will be a lot of meaningful fillers. :)  
Hope you all liked it._

_Please review and even if you don't check out my other stories. XD  
(I have a new story called Belonging, check it out!)_

_turtlechick...out  
_


	7. Scars

_This is sort of a deep filler but...  
it's kind of not because it sets up nicely for the next chapter THAT IS NOT A FILLER!  
Lol I thought it was needed to say.  
Oh well I hope you guys like it!  
Thanks to my reviewers: e1nav57, tenten2295, xmarachanx, Herrblade, MitsukoMiyuki, Pyromaniac-Girl, Aya-Chan101, Sand-Jounin-Temari, Musical Demon Obsessed Girl88, Tentenperson-Shikamarugal,Deyanira-chan. You guys are awesome!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

**Protection**

Chapter 7

By: turtlechick

- Neji

Today was the day that we were all waiting for. The day that all of our hard work led up to. The day when our progress would finally be tested. Today was the day of Tenten's math test. Of course I had to take it as well but, I wasn't being tutored. We had crammed the night before until I thought she was ready. It was only a small quiz but this would show if she was truly getting better. We sat on different sides of the room and I could still tell that she was nervous. She kept looking down at her desk, checking her notes one last time before the Mrs. Yuuhi passed out the quiz. She looked up at me when they were passed out, I only nodded, she was ready.

:::

Mrs. Yuuhi graded the papers before we left class and distributed them back out to us before she left. She gave me mine first, I had aced it. I couldn't help but watch as she walked around the room until she finally gave her paper to Tenten. She stopped and talked to Tenten for a moment and I couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing. Finally, she stepped out of the way and the room was filled with Tenten's high pitched scream. Did she pass? Then I saw her clutching the paper to her chest, she must have done well. I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I had no doubt that Tenten would do well but the waiting almost killed me.

She rushed over to me and shoved the paper in my face. "Look Neji! I passed!." There on the top of Tenten's paper written in red ink was a rather large 'B.' "Neji, thank you so much! I can't wait to show Temari and Shikamaru! This is going on our fridge!" And I thought that she could smile before. Tenten left the room quickly and immediately went to find Temari. I felt a sense of accomplishment. Maybe I could do more than just the mission this time.

I found them later in the cafeteria, sitting by the window, Shikamaru sitting with them. It was extremely hot today so most of the students were fanning themselves off or drinking something cold. Tenten still had that smile on her face.

"So Neji you did it. And here I thought that it wasn't possibly." Temari said laughing at her own joke. I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to take the glory out of Tenten's moment. Today was about her and no one was going to take that away from her. "Well since smiley here did so well I saw we celebrate and cool down at the same time."

"How the hell are we going to do that?" Shikamaru never took to the heat very well. The weather always weighed down on him making him even more lazy.

"I forgot. I guess we don't tell you two anything. There's a private pool on the top of the apartments. Ooh this will be so much fun we can invite everyone just to celebrate little Tennie." Temari hugged Tenten tightly.

"Private as in?" Shikamaru inquired.

"Yes, Shikamaru, private as in we get to use it at our discretion." Temari replied. Shikamaru let out a dramatic sigh of relief. The weather had always affected his mood as well. Extreme heat and cold made him cranky, while temperatures in the middle of things were just right.

:::

-Shikamaru

I knew that once Temari said the word 'pool,' that Neji wouldn't be up for it. Temari had called everyone from the party for Sakura the other day and most of them were up for it. Temari and Tenten were both really excited. Tenten was still excited for her passing grade and Temari was happy that she got to throw a party. She said she lived for this sort of thing.

"Grab your trunks boys! We're going up!" Temari yelled from the kitchen. I grabbed my swimming trunks a little too eagerly, because I knew that Neji felt left out even though he would never admit it and I knew he would never admit to Tenten and Temari but I felt like they had a right to know. I knew that if they asked about Neji then it my job to tell them. "Hurry up!" Temari yelled.

:::

"Wow." This roof was amazing. Not only was there a pool, but a diving board and lounge chairs lined the outside of the area. Tenten ran from behind us and straight into the pool. She was so small that she hardly made a splash. Temari was a little more subtle when she entered the pool. She took her time, walking around the perimeter of the pool until she reached the steps. She stuck one foot in and then the other and finally joined Tenten in the middle. I followed Temari's lead, but stopped at the stairs. This was the life. Neji sat on a lounge chair mediated in the sun.

After a while everyone else started to show up. I was glad to see Chouji, he seemed like the only sane one out of this bunch. Most of the girls were playing with Akamaru in the water while Naruto and Sasuke raced across the pool to see who was fastest, it was tie every time. Temari, Sakura and Ino were now working on their tans, while Tenten and Matsuri were having a water fight with Kiba and Kankerou. It was only our second time with these people and yet I didn't feel as left out.

:::

The party was dying down and most everyone had left. Neji still sat on the edge of the pool, alone. Temari were floating near the edge of the pool when they called me over. I went over and waited for them to say something.

"Shikamaru why did Neji never get in the pool today? It's not like you too aren't fit, the two of you combined probably have muscles for days." I fought back a blush from the comment.

I sighed, getting ready for my explanation. "Neji has been in the military for a long time, longer than I have. He's been through a lot of tough times. Let's just say that wars don't just ware less on the mind and more on the body for Neji. He's had it pretty rough. He's pretty self conscious about his scars." Before I could say anymore, Tenten had gotten out of the pool and was sitting with Neji on the lounge chair next to him.

"I would have never guessed. Is it really that bad?" Temari asked.

"They're aren't horrible. They just remind him of bad times that he wouldn't like to think about anymore. He's come a long way actually."

"Huh, well Neji's a good person. This whole experience is probably a good thing for him. This way he doesn't have to deal with all of that stuff, at least for a little while." Well at least Temari had realized that Neji and I weren't going to be here forever. I don't know if Tenten had caught on yet.

"Neji and I are going to study for our next math test." Tenten said waving as she and Neji entered the elevator.

"Yeah, we should probably call it a day too." Temari said helping me out of the pool. My thoughts of these two changed a lot since Neji and I first got here. Those first couple of days were hell, but after a while we had become friends. Tenten was no longer the immature smiley girl, but now she was the person who might be able to make Neji come out his shell. And Temari… no matter how loud or troublesome she is, she's always a good person to talk to and someone who will always listen, even when I didn't want to talk.

When Temari and I entered the apartment, there on the refrigerator was Tenten's B with Neji's A right next to it.

* * *

_That wasn't so bad, and look on the bright side the next chapter won't be a filler!  
It'll be full of actioney goodness. lol ...kind of.  
I hope you all liked it! :)_

_Please review and even if you don't check out my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_

* * *


	8. Thank God For DVR

_Here's the eighth chaper!!  
I'm pretty sure that action is what I'm kind of the best at so this chapter is full of it!  
Be prepared because the end is sort of intense... lol  
Enjoy XD  
Thanks to my reviewers you guys are the best!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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**

**Protection**

Chapter 8

By: turtlechick

- Shikamaru

Today was Saturday and like every Saturday it was TV day. Today was the day that Temari and Tenten finally got around to watching every thing that they had recorded during the week. Temari always said, "Thank God for DVR!" These days were easy on Neji and me as well. We didn't have to make sure we knew where they were, we didn't have to carry all of Temari's shopping bags and the drama from school was a thing of the past. It was the life.

Right now they were going through a couple of episodes of a soap opera they watched. Tenten watched because she thought the acting was horrible, but Temari… she had a box of tissues on her lap. If I was correct the main guy was confessing to his true love that he had a brain tumor and it was terminal. Suddenly the room was filled with Tenten's laugh and Temari's sobs. Neji was trying to meditate on a nearby couch but his efforts were in vain. The whole thing was ridiculous and would never happen in real life. I had no idea how people could watch that garbage.

The doorbell rang and as far as I knew neither of the girls were expecting anyone. Nor would they ever invite anyone over on their TV day. It was like tradition with those two. Temari paused the television and looked panicked. Then she took one look at me and got a devilish smile on her face.

"Shikamaru would you be a dear and get the door?" She asked politely. I saw no harm in her request so I got up and headed towards the door. On the other side was a scrawny boy with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He took one look at me and his smile went to a frown.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

I easily towered over him and watched, confused, as he struggled for an answer. Why was he so scared and who were those flowers for? "U-u-um, no." He backed away slowly and ran down the hall to the elevator and began pushing the down button furiously. The elevator was occupied so he ran to the stairs instead. What a strange kid. Then it hit me, I knew who he was. He was probably someone who Chiyo set Temari with. But that still didn't explain why he ran.

"Is he gone?" Temari asked from the couch.

"Temari what was that all about? Why did he run?"

She waved a hand in front of her face. "It was just some loser guy. And as for why he ran, just look at yourself." Look at myself?

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked puzzled, obviously she was on to something that I wasn't.

"Oh please Shikamaru! I could have Neji to answer the door if I wanted to. The reason he ran was because he was intimidated. Think of it this way, if you opened the door to a girl's house that you were supposed to pick up for a date and a much more muscular man opened the door who seemed to be right at home, wouldn't you run? You can't tell me that you've never scared a guy before with your muscles." She chuckled. I had never thought of it that way. Were Neji and I really all that scary? "You know for being so smart Shikamaru, you really are dense sometimes." She said going back to her show.

"Troublesome."

:::

- Neji

It was hard to concentrate today with all of the emotions at home. I wanted to rip that TV out of the wall so I wouldn't have to hear it anymore. It was surprising how unrealistic those shows were.

After they had watched every single recording Temari said she had to get out of the house to recover, whatever that meant. They had both picked a small restaurant to eat at. It was quiet, all except for a small no name musician playing his music in the background. The whole feel of the restaurant was very earthy, with it's wood walls and floors. It was only after we sat for a while that I started to notice the people around us. There were atleast six, two outside; one reading a newspaper and the other leaning against a pole smoking a cigarette. There were four inside the restaurant; one at the bar, two at different tables and the last near the payphones. These six men were watching us. Shikamaru probably noticed them when I did and his eyes locked with mine, to tell me to be careful with my actions. If we did anything that they didn't want us to then they were going to cause a scene, possibly hurting a bystander or…one of the girls. We had to play it cool if we were going to get out of this smoothly, we couldn't tell the girls because they weren't as good as hiding their emotions as we were.

I watched the men as they watched us. They seemed like rookies, that's probably why they needed so many of them. It was only a matter of time before we had to leave and a confrontation was made.

"Are you alright Neji?" Tenten's voice startled me from my thoughts. She was looking at me worriedly, not her normal smiling face.

"I'm fine." Everything in my gut told me to warn her but I knew that it was best for everyone's safety if I kept it a secret a little while longer.

"I'm stuffed let's rent a movie and call it a day." Temari announced as she pat her full stomach.

"Temari haven't we watched enough TV today?" Tenten asked, giggling.

"Probably." She laughed. "Come on we'll get some strawberry ice cream on the way home too." Temari added.

"Ok!" Strawberry ice cream was Tenten's weakness. I shot Shikamaru a glance, and I saw him making a plan in his head. The four men inside, got up as soon as we all did and followed behind us as we left the restaurant.

"They won't try anything until we get to a secluded area. We'll have to deal with them then." He whispered under his breath. I nodded slightly, but just enough to acknowledge his plan. The six men continued to follow us down the street, Temari started to catch on because she looked at us scared, Tenten was oblivious to the situation.

We got to where the car was parked, in a small side street. Shikamaru got next to Temari and Tenten and instructed them to get in the backseat and get down. We were positive that they would have guns again, but this time it would be more difficult because we were dealing with six instead of two, like last time. We prepared ourselves and turned around to face our opponents.

"Oh come now is that anyway to greet an old friend Neji, Shikamaru?" It took me a second but I knew that voice, it was one of Orochimaru's thugs, Kidoumaru. He used to work with a team but most of them were put in prison, by Shikamaru and myself of course. He held a bit of resentment towards of us, actually it was more like a blatant hatred. We said nothing, but now I could see the guns in the pockets of their sweatshirts. This was a hard jam that we were going to have to get ourselves out of. "I'll ask you boys once, hand them over and no one will have to get hurt today." Yeah, no one but him.

"Come one Kidoumaru are you that scared of us? In the old days you have shot first and asked questions later." What was Shikamaru doing? Was he trying to get us killed? But if this was Shikamaru we were talking about, then he probably had a plan to back up his talk.

His eyes narrowed and fired a shot in our direction. We quickly dodged and lunged at the two closest men. We took them down easily but the other four men fired their guns at us, so not only did we have to worry about the men we were fighting but we also had to worry about getting shoat as well.

I whipped out my gun, I hadn't used it once since we got here and I didn't want to use it ever. I shot one of the four men in the hand to make him drop his weapon and he fell to floor clutching his hand in agony. Shot another in the leg and I felt a sharp pain in my side but I couldn't look down to see what had happened. The pain slowly slipped away as my adrenaline kicked in. Now there were only two left, Kidoumaru and another one. Shikamaru ran at the other man and left Kidoumaru to me. All of a sudden he dropped his gun.

"Drop your gun Neji and we'll settle this the old fashioned way. I stayed silent and slowly put my gun on the floor, making sure that he wasn't pulling a fast one on me. He dove for me and tackled me to the ground. I quickly kicked him off and scrambled to me feet.

We got closer to each other and I hit hi square in the jaw, he stumbled backwards but stayed on his feet, only wiping the blood from his lip. He smiled and threw himself at me, hitting me in the chin with his knuckles, it threw me for a loop and took me a minute to regain my surroundings. That continued until both of us could barely stand and the pain in my side was getting gradually worse as the fight went on. I had to finish this quickly and get the others out of here. He came at me again, his body teetering from side to side. He threw a punch again and I easily dodged it. I threw one at him and him in the side of the face, sending him into the nearby wall. He fell to the ground and he was out.

I finally put a hand to my side and it felt wet, I pulled it up to meet my eyes, my hand was covered in blood. Damn. "You alright Neji?" Shikamaru asked out of breath as well. I nodded, it was the only thing I could do. He saw my side and rushed over to help me to the car.

He opened the back seat door and helped me in, we were met by two very frightened girls. "You two are never allowed to do that ever again! We were worried sick! All we could hear was gun fire! We thought that you two had died!" Tears streamed down Temari's red face. "Oh my God! What happened?" Shikamaru said nothing as he shut the door and ran to the driver's side.

Tenten was hysterical. Her tears were falling down her face like a waterfall. "I was so worried." she cried.

"Tenten calm down it's fine now." I tried to soothe her and it seemed to work a little bit but she still sniffled from crying so hard. I took the time to look at my wound and was relieved that the bullet had only clipped my side, but that didn't make up for the fact that I was bleeding like crazy. I kept coming in and out of consciousness from the blood loss, but every time I did Tenten would say my name and bring me back.

:::

- Shikamaru

Neji was in bad shape and it didn't help that Tenten was crying uncontrollably and Temari was mad and crying at the same time. I knew I just had to get Neji back as soon as possible and patch up his side. We were lucky that it was late and no one was at the front desk when we got to the apartments. I helped him up and sat him on couch. I ran as fast I could back to our room to get a first aid kit. I came back and stifled through it to find the bandages.

"Temari go get some hydrogen peroxide to clean out the wound and a rag." She nodded and rushed to the bathroom. "Neji get your shirt off so I can clean the wound." He obeyed tiredly but in the end couldn't do with his injury. "Tenten help him." She bit her lip and grabbed Neji's shirt and pulled it over his head.

"Oh Neji." She said hushed. I was guessing that she had finally seen the reason that Neji took off his shirt. On one of his first missions, Neji was assigned to capture Orochimaru with a small special ops team. He was only a child then but that bastard didn't go easy on him. He took out a large knife, in the middle of their fight, and slashed Neji across the chest. The scar it left went from his shoulder all the way to his hip. We had both had to patch each other up on many occasions so his scar wasn't new to me. Neji may have been hurt but he was still self conscious. He wouldn't even look at Tenten, it was only after she reached out and traced it with her finger did he look at her.

"Shikamaru here it is." I quickly took the bottle and dumped it over to get a good amount on the rag. I put it to the place where Neji was hurt and help it there making sure to completely clean it out. I knew that it would hurt like crazy, since it had been exposed for so long but the only sign Neji made was clenching his fists every time the wound bubbled. I took it away and gave the bandages to Tenten who was closer to Neji than I was and she quickly wrapped the bandage around Neji's torso a few times.

After we made sure that he was going to live, we left him on the couch, all of us except Tenten. She stayed with him that night on the couch beside the one he was on.

* * *

_What a rush!!! lol  
I'm going to add a slight twist on the end of the next chapter so brace yourselves!  
Hope you all liked the smidgens of Nejiten._

_Please review and even if you don't check out my other stories XD_

_turtlechick...out  
_


	9. Called Out

_I went into this chapter only knowing the middle and the end.  
So basically I pulled the rest out of my butt. lol  
I'll just say sorry in advance. :D  
Thanks to my reviewers!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

**Protection**

Chapter 9

By: turtlechick

- Neji

The next morning my hand went straight to my side where that bullet had grazed my side. I felt slightly woozy from the blood loss, my head was spinning and the events from last night were foggy. I was stiff and sore and was already in a bad mood, that was until, I saw Tenten sleeping on the couch next to the one I was on.

"She was there all night." Temari was at the refrigerator getting out what looked like a glass of milk. She motioned to Tenten.

She had stayed there all night? Why? Why would she do that? It made no sense at all. I would have done that for her but that was only because I was here to protect her, she wasn't supposed to be the one protecting me. I couldn't help but stare, she was so different. Different than anyone I had ever been in contact with. Being in the military for as long as I could remember, we were taught to suck it up and finish the mission and that was that.

I got up and headed for our room, I found Shikamaru on his bed asleep. His eyes opened when I entered though.

"So you're up?" I nodded and sat on my bed and ran my fingers through my hair. This mission was getting more and more complicated as time went on. If we were barely able to beat those guys what would happen if they sent more next time? Suddenly the door flew open and a teary eyed Tenten rushed in.

"Tenten is everything ok?" Shikamaru asked.

"Neji, I woke up and you weren't there. I thought that maybe you…" She took her arm and wiped away a few tears that had accumulated on her face.

"Tenten it'll take a lot more than that to kill me." I said, slightly confused. She was the one who had one of the worst men alive after her and yet, she was worried about me. It didn't make sense at all. She nodded, smiled and left the room.

:::

- Shikamaru

It was quiet the day after that last attack, even Temari was quiet and that was a rare occasion. It had everyone a little bit startled. Tenten and Temari were beginning to realize the lengths that these men were willing to go to get a hold of them. And Neji and I were starting to worry that maybe this mission was over our heads. Neji's got a lot of pride and it would take a lot for him to admit that he might not be able to do this mission. He would do it though if Temari's and Tenten's safety was in jeopardy. I wouldn't think twice if we were asked if we wanted backup.

Neji and Tenten were practicing for a math quiz that they had coming up in a few days. That seemed to lighten up the mood, but it would take a while for everyone to go back to normal, just like the last time that their lives were danger.

Temari was watching TV as usual and I sat with her in the living room. We didn't want to bother Tenten or Neji while they were studying.

"Shikamaru, tell me about this guy, Orochimaru." Temari said looking me straight in the eyes.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to know." I certainly wouldn't want to know if I was in her position.

I sighed. "Ok. Orochimaru started out as a simple street thug, nothing special, mostly selling pocket knifes on the street. There were rumors that he could sell anything to anyone. We heard a story that he sold a butterfly knife to an old lady on the street." Temari giggled at that. "The point is that he is manipulative. He can make almost anyone do anything that he wants them to. Soon people started to recognize his promise and was taken on by a crime boss in India."

"India? Shikamaru that sounds a little far fetched." She complained.

"It's no joke Temari. As special ops soldiers we are required to know everything about the target and this definitely isn't is the first time that we've come across Orochimaru. Neji and I are required to know everything from their blood type to their mother's birthday."

She laughed, again. "Ok, ok I get it. Now continue with your story."

"The people he worked for in India were mostly weapons dealers. They sold everything from bazookas to tanks. They were well known by everyone on the black market. Orochimaru began to get noticed by other companies and soon he thought he didn't need his old company anymore. He sold every single one of them out to another group. He gave them all sorts of records like; purchases, names, and even the names of everyone's families. I bet you can guess what would be done with information like that."

"They killed everyone didn't they?" She said softly.

I nodded. "This was before Neji and joined but we were told that no one survived."

"That's horrible."

"Yes, it is. As Orochimaru went up in the ranks of this new group and soon he was put second in command of the whole ordeal."

"That's stupid. He just sold out the last people he worked for. Didn't they think that he'd do the same to them?"

"You're right. The head of the establishment was wary of Orochimaru's loyalty, so one day he heard a rumor that Orochimaru was plotting to have him killed so that he could take control of the company. The head guy didn't like the idea of that, so he countered and ordered Orochimaru to be killed. What he didn't know was that all of the people he was plotting to kill Orochimaru with, were actually against him."

"So he died too?" She asked.

"Yes. Like I said he's very manipulative."

"No kidding. Obviously those people knew that other guy way longer than Orochimaru but they still chose to side with him instead. That's crazy."

"So now he was the head of the biggest weapons dealers in the world. Just imagine what someone like him could do with that kind of power." Just the thought of that made me want to throw up.

"Anything he wanted to I guess." Her voice got quiet.

"Yeah, and he did do just about anything. As the head of this new company he took over everyone and everything related to the weapons business. He was one of the smart ones to actually use the weapons he was distributing. And with all of the competition gone, now think of the money he had."

"A shit load."

"Yeah, a lot. As he became more well known, people got more and more scared of him. Soon everyone was praying to his every whim. He asked for it, he got it. He wasn't a nice guy either. A couple years ago we captured one of the men that worked for Orochimaru. He never told us anything about his plans, he just told us what he did if anyone ever disobeyed him."

"You don't need to tell me that much." She said.

"Good, because I wasn't going to talk about it."

"Oh."

"Orochimaru is a bastard. That's all you ever need to know about him." Neji and Tenten walked out at that moment.

"How was the tutoring?" Temari asked.

"Good I think I'm almost ready for that quiz." Tenten replied. Out of the blue, the phone rang. Tenten skipped over and picked up the phone. "Hello." She said, her voice was chipper. "Ok." She held the phone to her chest. "Neji it's for you." She handed the phone to Neji and plopped down on the couch next to Temari.

Neji held the phone up to his ear hesitantly. Who would be calling Neji?

"Hello." He immediately straightened up. "Yes ma'am." It was Tsunade. They talked for a little while longer, the rest of us watched, waiting for an explanation. Neji's eyes narrowed. "Tomorrow? Yes ma'am." He hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" I asked because I had no idea why Tsunade would be calling us, especially in the middle of a mission.

"We're being called out."

* * *

_Ooo my first cliffahnger for this story!  
How exciting!!! XD  
Don't worry it's not as bad as it sounds. lol  
I'll try to have the next chapter up soon._

_Please review and even if you don't check out my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_

* * *


	10. Motivation

_I really hope you guys like this chapter.  
It's pretty self explanitory.  
Action filled but fluffy at the same time. :D  
BTW; I know a lot of you are asking for more Nejiten, but I want Neji and Shikamaru to stay professional, so until the end there will be only hints to their affection towards Tenten and Temari. Ok? :) BUt it will come!!!  
Thanks to my reviewers!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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**Protection**

Chapter 10

By: turtlechick

-Shikamaru

"What the hell does that mean?" Temari said loudly. I knew exactly what it meant and so did Neji but I knew that Tenten and Temari weren't going to like it. Actually I wasn't too sure I was going to enjoy this either. Neji's face was still in the same spot it had been, eyes narrowed and face distraught.

"It means we have to leave." I explained.

"Leave!? You guys just got the stuffing beat out of you and now you have to leave?! That's insane!" Temari yelled.

"What did she say Neji?" I was trying to disregard Temari's question. She had a good point but this was our job we couldn't not fulfill our duties because we had a few scrapes. We had both been in worse condition before.

"She said that the reconnaissance team that was sent out has found out where Orochimaru has been hiding. Apparently tomorrow he's going to be going over a weapons deal with a terrorist group. She's got a large number of agents on the case but said it would be better if we were there. It's going to be one of the only times that we'll be able to catch him." Neji said solemnly.

"What about us?" Temari said. She had calmed down a little bit.

"She's sending a replacement team while were gone." Neji said.

"But we don't want a replacement team." Tenten said quietly.

"Yeah. Why do you guys have to leave? Let those other people find him." Temari said. I knew Neji would be torn about this situation. He's had a grudge with Orochimaru for as long as I've known him. Catching that bastard would be good for Neji, but at the same time, I don't think he wanted to leave.

"When do we have to leave Neji?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning, early." He replied.

:::

-Neji

Tenten was just making harder for me to leave. She was being outright about her feelings but I knew that she didn't want us to leave, in fear that we might not come back. When it came to Orochimaru that was certainly possible. There was a knock on the door and I went to answer it, there in the doorway was our replacements. There were four of them, I guess Tsunade was being safe. I had never seen these guys before and they looked like rookies. That's probably the reason she sent so many. They introduced themselves and walked in the door.

It was time to go.

"You two better come back in one piece, you hear me?" Temari said, hands on her hips. "I don't want to be left with these stiffs." She pointed the recruits. They seemed offended but that was Temari for you. She never held back, it felt good to know that she didn't treat us like that anymore. Now those four would have to feel their wrath, but at the same time I was envious of them. They weren't the ones going on a near suicide mission in the desert, they… got to stay here with, them.

We turned around to head out the door when I felt a tug on my arm, it was Tenten. "Please be careful." She said. I nodded, there was no way I wouldn't be coming back, we still had a job to do. I turned again but she grabbed my hand. I turned to face her once again. "Promise you'll come back Neji."

"I promise." She let go of my hand and we were finally gone this time.

-Shikamaru

:::

A car took us to a small helicopter pad where atleast ten other men waited for us. We had been briefed on the instructions on the ride over, we were the leaders of this mission, nothing different for us. The group straightened up when they saw us approach them.

"We are Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuuga, your captains for this mission. The chopper will take us near the site, but we will have to trek three miles to get to where Orochimaru is going to be. After the hike we will infiltrate the base and stop the deal and hopefully at the same time capture Orochimaru. You will all report to us on this mission." They saluted and we all got in the chopper.

I noticed Neji looking out of the window, distracted by something. "Neji?"

"Huh?" He snapped out his gaze.

"Keep it together." I said harshly. Did he think that he was the only one that was worried? Or did he forget that we were responsible for more than our own lives? We didn't only have to worry about us, the men who were with us but most importantly the girls that we left back home. They were counting on us getting back and making this whole thing go away so they wouldn't have to worry about it anymore, even if that meant we would have to leave.

"Sorry." He muttered.

:::

The mission was in an Indian desert. There were no trees to conceal the chopper so that's why we had to walk so far. It was a good thing that we knew where we were going because all we could see was sand for miles. Even though it was still early the sun was high in the sky and it was incredibly hot out. All this extra clothing was really weighing us down.

An hour into the three mile hike, one of the men was already complaining. One of the things that Neji hated more than anything was whiners. It wouldn't take long for him to whip him into shape, especially on a mission as important as this one.

"How long have we been walking?" That same one started up again. It was the third time that he had asked in the last five minutes. I knew Neji was on the verge of losing it. It would only take one more time for him to ask. "Really, how long have we been walking?" Neji threw his gun on the sand and picked the man up by his collar. Neji was easily stronger than him and was taller as well. The man got scared, his eyes wide. He dropped his gun from in the air, the rest of us watched, doing nothing to stop Neji. I think we were all thinking the same thing about this man.

"If you say anything else, I promise you that I will kill you myself and leave you here for the vultures." Neji never took his eyes off the man in his hands. "That goes for all of you, this is the most important mission you will ever go on, so don't screw it up." Neji threw him on the ground and picked up his weapon.

-Neji

After another two hours of walking in the hot desert we finally came across the enemy base where the deal was going down. It really was in the middle of nowhere. We all took a few minutes to asses the situation. The base was fairly small, nothing fancy. Outside there were seven guards, all with the latest automatic weapons at their disposal. In main building was where the deal was happening, but if we were going to get in there we would need to get rid of the exterior guards.

"Get the sniper ready." Shikamaru commanded. They did as they were told and prepared the silent gun. They positioned it on the hill we were all on and Neji instructed which of them to take down first. He pointed to one who was straggling on the outskirts of the base. One steadied the gun, while the other quietly shot off wind direction, wind speed and the other variables that went into sniper shooting. I saw his finger pull back on the trigger until it was back all the way and the man Neji had been pointing to, was down. One down six to go.

:::

It was now time to start the real mission. The last part had been swift and quick, without mistake, but I still felt like it took too long. No one had had caught on to us so we were clear to move in. We moved slowly, making sure not to accidentally be seen. When we approached the doors to the warehouse, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. This one moment would be the start of many or the end of it all. I motioned to Shikamaru and the rest of the men, then finally kicked down the door.

It was all a blur from there. As soon as the door was down a loud sound erupted, an explosion of sorts. We were all thrown backwards from the blast. The heat surrounded the group as we all tried to protect ourselves from the fire. How had they known that we were coming? We had done everything right. I looked up to see the rest of the group. Shikamaru was on his hands and knees, couching up the ashes from the fire. A few of the other men had gotten up, couching as well. There was one however, who was lying in the sand, not moving, dead. Just to think, that could have been me or Shikamaru. I didn't want to get up, this was the only time that I had gotten to rest, it felt good to lay here. I knew I had the get up, I just couldn't make myself do it. Then a face came to my mind, it was Tenten's. I had come out here for her, even though we had most certainly missed our chance to catch Orochimaru, I still had a promise to keep. I had to return to her. I pulled myself off of the ground and stumbled to my feet. In the distance I could hear and chopper, the one leaving with the man we were supposed to apprehend.

"Get up everyone!" I commanded. "We may have failed but we still have to get home." I said. The ones who could nodded. I walked to the man now in the dirt, I lifted him up throwing him over my shoulders. I wasn't going to leave him behind.

:::

It had taken us double the time to get back to the pickup point. The feeling was bittersweet getting onto that helicopter. I was disappointed that we hadn't caught Orochimaru, but relieved that we were on our way back… to them. It was also discouraging that we all hadn't made it out, alive. I empathized for whoever would have to tell his family, if he had any. I never really had much of a family. Now, I guess you could call Temari, Shikamaru and… Tenten my family. I cringed at the thought of Tenten getting a call that I had been killed on a mission. I would never be able to forgive myself.

:::

-Shikamaru

It had taken longer than we thought to file the report for the mission. It was now late the next day and we were exhausted. We hadn't slept what felt like, for so long. As the familiar doors opened, our repayments spotted us, they were standing outside the door. We dismissed them and went quietly inside. Temari was sitting on the counter, sipping on a glass of water.

"Welcome back." Temari said dryly, but I could tell that she had been worried. There was something about the way she held that glass, her hand were shaking slightly. "I didn't realize how much we would miss you until we got stuck with those stiffs. There was one lone tear that drifted down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

"Where is Tenten?" Neji asked evenly, but in reality he was more tired than I had ever seen him before.

"In her room. She was pretty bummed out, she thinks she failed that quiz today." Neji's face went blank. I guess he had forgotten all about the test that they both had today. He always made sure that he was here for when they had quiz, preparing her and making sure that she was ready. He went off wordlessly to Tenten's room.

I dropped my bags and sat next to Temari at the counter. We said nothing, but we never had to. Even though Temari and I had only known each other a little while. We were already at good at knowing what the other was thinking.

:::

It was late and Temari and I decided to call it a night. I was just opening the door to Neji and my room when I noticed he wasn't there.

"Shikamaru come here quick!" Temari whispered. I rushed over to her, she was standing in the door way of Tenten's room. It was dark but I could still make out Neji's figure, asleep, leaning against the end of Tenten's bed.

* * *

_Sorry but I don't see Temari running at Shikamaru and tears running down her face when he got back. lol  
I hope that what was you were expecting and at same time I hope it wasn't.  
Personally I love surprises. :)_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD  
(I just started a collection of Sonfics! So please take the time to review my first story.) :D_

_turtlechick...out  
_


	11. Troublesome Birthdays

_Here's the eleventh chapter :)  
It's mostly Shikatema because I got a review that said Shikamaru was paying more attention to Neji.  
They were sort of right so I put this in to set things straight!  
Sorry for the shortness...  
Enjoy and thanks to all my awesome reviewers!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...shoot._

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**Protection**

Chapter 11

By: turtelchick

- Neji

_Last Night_

_I felt so bad for not being there for Tenten. I said that I would help her out and I didn't. she probably hated me and I didn't blame her. I knew she was depending on me and I just let her down. I knew she wouldn't want to see me after what I did to her either, but I couldn't go to sleep without seeing her face. I think I just had to make sure that she was alright. I stepped in quietly, the lights were out and she was in her bed._

"_Tenten?" I said quietly. She said nothing back, so she was definitely asleep, she wiggled slightly at the sound of my voice. At that moment the exhaustion from the previous days set in. My eyelids started to get heavy and I needed to sit down. I put my bags down quietly on the floor and sat down next to Tenten's bed and that's where I fell asleep._

:::

"Neji you're back!" My eyes flew open, Tenten was sitting on the floor in front of me, still in her striped pajamas. Why was she so excited to see me? "When did you get home? Why didn't you wake me up?" Her questions all came in a blur.

"Last night… aren't you upset with me?" I said quietly.

She looked at me, puzzled. "Neji, why would I be upset with you?"

"Your test."

Her smile faltered for just a moment. "No, of course not Neji. I know that what you were doing for me out there was more important anyway. Speaking of that, how was it?" I said nothing, I didn't want to talk about something like with her. She shouldn't have to hear it. "So you didn't get him?" I shook my head. "That's ok, I know you and Shikamaru will get him next time. You know what? I think Temari really missed Shikamaru, she took it out on all of those poor replacement guys." She giggled behind her hand. " And don't worry Neji, I missed you too."

I glanced at the clock on Tenten's dresser. We were late for school.

"Tenten we're late."

"No we're not silly, it's a holiday, there is no school today."

"What do you mean you forgot?!" We heard Temari yell from the other room.

- Shikamaru

"Shikamaru you just don't forget things like that!" She was screaming at me for no reason.

"What did Shikamaru forget?" Tenten asked when she and Neji came in the living room.

"The lazy ass here forgot his own birthday!" She pointed a finer at me accusingly. "Who forgets their own birthday?!"

"I didn't know it was your birthday Shikamaru." Neji said. "Actually Temari, we never really get a chance to celebrate our birthdays, were always out on missions."

"Well, we're celebrating it today. Tenten go get dressed, we've got some shopping to do today." Why on earth was she making such a big deal about this? Troublesome. My birthday has never been a big deal before.

:::

I don't know if I liked celebrating my birthday. The whole day consisted of me being told by Temari to cover my ears. She said she didn't want to ruin the surprise. It was completely pointless though, I would eventually see what they were all planning. She would and Tenten would run off in a random store and come out with a bag. They wouldn't even let me carry them, not that I wanted to, because they said that I would peek. The whole thing was ridiculous. Right now Neji and I were waiting outside _another_ store waiting for Tenten and Temari to get done with their never-ending shopping. Tenten finally came out of the store, bag in hand.

"Hey has Temari come out yet? I lost her near the sale rack." Tenten said cheerfully.

"No." I answered. Neji and I looked to each other. "Let's split up. Neji go with Tenten and try to find her." Neji nodded and pulled Tenten back into the store.

I searched high and low for Temari but I couldn't find her anywhere. I looked in the last place Tenten had seen her, the sale rack, she wasn't there. I looked in all of her favorite places, the accessories, jeans, and sunglasses, she wasn't there either. After thinking about all those things, it hit me. I knew Temari, really well. I knew that popcorn was her favorite food because it reminded her of a movie theater. Her favorite sport chess, not because she played it but because none of the people her grandmother set her up with played chess. Another thought ran through my mind. Had they gotten her? If they had, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself. My heart sunk. It was then that I spotted her looking through a pile of clothes. I ran over to her and turned her around to face me, my hands on her shoulders.

"Temari where have you been?!" I said loudly.

"In the bathroom." She said like I had a third eye on my forehead.

"You can't just go running off! We had no idea where you were! Neji and I are responsible for you and…"

"Shikamaru it's alright, I'm ok." Her words were calm. I took my hands off of her shoulders and rubbed my temples. I was usually so calm, so why did I lose control just then? It seemed like every time I reacted irrationally she was the cause.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

"Oh you found her!" Tenten and Neji came barreling around the corner, out of breath. Tenten enveloped Temari in a hug.

"It's ok Tenten, calm down." Temari was getting annoyed over people gushing over her for so long. "Let's get out of here. I think we're done anyway." She never really liked to be the center of attention.

:::

"Surprise!" Tenten and Temari yelled. Tenten had baked a cake, after pestering me for over an hour about what my favorite flavor was. She settled on making one up herself because I really didn't have a preference. Cake wasn't really something I was used to anyway. Neji seemed to be amused with watching me be so uncomfortable. Tenten could be a tad eccentric at times.

Tenten had gotten me a few hundred shirts and a couple of nice clothes. She said that way we would be prepared when Temari's grandma Chiyo called about another party. Temari had bought me a set of walkie talkies. She said they were so I wouldn't freak out when she had to go to the bathroom again. I had never seen Tenten laugh so hard, it also got a chuckle out of Neji. In a weird way… they were perfect.

* * *

_Yeah short but cute right?  
I'm getting back into the swing of things with the fillers.  
Hope you all liked it :)_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD  
(Like my new story The Songs That Define Us) :D_

_turtlechick...out_


	12. Close Call

_Sorry it took so long for me to update...  
I actually got a case of WRITER'S BLOCK... and a sore throat but that's beside the point. lol  
This chapter was actually influenced by me being sick. :) (I've been downin' cough drops like nobodies business) lol  
Oh and by the way, I HATE bugs.  
And Kotetsu and Izumo rule!!! :D  
OK now I'm done...Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...shoot._

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**Protection**

Chapter 12

By: turtlechick

- Neji

It was early in the morning, we were all getting ready for school that day. Shikamaru was in the bathroom brushing his teeth while I pulled my shirt over my head. I was barely awake but when I heard Tenten scream I woke up right away. I grabbed my gun off of the nightstand and rushed down the hall to Tenten's room. Shikamaru was right behind me, toothbrush still in his mouth. We both came a sliding stop on the hardwood floor in front of Tenten's room. Temari was already there, standing in Tenten's doorway, shaking her head. What was going on?

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru demanded. We took a closer look inside to see Tenten trembling on top of her desk.

"Get it! Get it! Get it!" She said pointing to a spot on her floor. I stepped in further to see a tiny insect.

"A spider." I asked dumbfounded.

"Neji, please get it, I hate spiders." I sighed and opened the window before picking up the small arachnid and throwing it out the window.

"Tenten I thought you over your little fear of bugs?" Temari asked, still shaking her head.

"No, I still hate them." Tenten pouted from atop the desk. I walked back to her and held my arms up to help her off of the desk.

"Come on Tenten." I said, arms outstretched. She then lowered herself until she was in my arms. She felt so strange to me, so fragile. Having her in my arms, just made me want to protect her even more. I set her gently on the floor.

"Thanks Neji." She said with a smile.

We all filed into the living room, after Shikamaru had finished brushing his teeth of course.

"So Tenten why are you so afraid of bugs?" Shikamaru asked.

"It was the one time her mother took her on one of her crazy adventures." Temari started. "See Tenten's mom, Anko, is the big outdoorsy type. She loves to travel around the world. The one time Tenten agreed to go along," Temari laughed, "her mom took her to the Amazon jungle."

"It was horrible, I like to go camping sometimes, but that was a little extreme." Tenten seemed to be embarrassed about the whole thing. Even though Tenten acted like a child most of the time, it was surprising to see her so worked up about something as insignificant as a spider.

:::

That same day after school we headed across town for a tennis competition. Tenten wasn't in this one, but one of her favorite tennis players was. Tenten said she loved watching others play because it could teach her so much. I don't see what she needed to learn, she was already so good, but we went anyway.

"They're really good." Shikamaru stated.

"Oh yeah, these guys are a couple of brackets above mine. They're the best of the best. See that one over there." She pointed to a tall boy with his bangs covering most of his eyes. It was a mystery of how he played so well. "That Izumo. He wins all the national tournaments. He says that these little competitions are just a warm up."

"He sounds cocky to me." I said.

"Not really, Izumo is really nice. And even if he was cocky, he has a good reason to be." She giggled.

"Hn." Just then Temari coughed.

"Are you alright Temari? You don't look so good." Tenten said concerned. Come to think of it, she did look a little pale.

"Gee thanks Tenten." She coughed again.

"Let me see." Shikamaru said as he put his palm up to her forehead to check her temperature. He held it there for a moment before giving his diagnosis.

"Yep, you have a fever." He said.

She coughed again. "What are you a nurse or something?"

"Neji and I both have the basic training in the medical field. It's not like we can bring doctors along with us on a mission, so we know just enough to get by." Neither of us had been injured too badly in the past, but we've had to help out a few of our comrades before. Our skills had gotten us out of a few tight jams in the past.

"Come on, let's get you home Temari." Tenten said, helping Temari down the bleachers.

The tennis courts were a ways away from the street, so the walk to a cab, revealed that we had some visitors.

"Shit, not again." Shikamaru muttered. Behind us, there were atleast ten men trailing us. They weren't doing a very good job, but that didn't matter because there were so many of them. This was going to be a tough jam to get out of.

"Tenten, Temari." They were by our sides in a second.

-Shikamaru

"We're being followed." I indicated. Tenten and Temari both turned their heads around to see our pursuers. "Don't look!" I whispered urgently. They snapped their heads back around. "We're going to need to split up." They nodded. We had reached the street, but it was too risky to leave. They might resort to violence. "When we reach that fork in the sidewalk, Tenten go with Neji," she scooted closer to him, "And Temari come with me. We'll go left and you two go right. When you've lost them, wait five minutes and then call so we can meet up." Neji nodded, agreeing with the plan.

When we reached the spilt, I grabbed Temari's hand and ran no where in particular, just away from the men that were after us. Not taking my eyes of what was in front of us I was able to tell how many men were behind us, by counting their footsteps. Five were behind us, so that meant that five were after Tenten and Neji. I glanced at Temari, she wasn't doing well. It looked like her fever had gone up since we had been running, and her face was even paler. I needed to ditch these guys, and fast, not to mention she was slowing me down. I had to get her out of harms way.

I stopped running and let go of her hand. "Temari keep going, I'm going to hold them off as long as I can."

"Shikamaru that's crazy." She coughed again.

"No, it's not, now stop being troublesome and go." I pushed her in the direction we were just headed and watched as she turned the corner. I just hope she got far enough away. I heard footsteps coming up from behind me.

"Where'd the girl go?!" One man yelled.

"She's gone." I said calmly.

"You'll tell us where she went!" Another man said loudly.

"And if I don't?" The man, enraged by my words, charged at me, all five at a time. The first one came with a simple right hook to the face, I easily dodged and grabbed his arm so I could twist it and push hi to the ground. The man yelled out in pain. He wouldn't be using that arm for a while. The next two came up from both sides, ready to grab me so the another use me as a punching bag. I quickly swept my feet under both of them and sent them tumbling to the floor.

Before I could get up, I was stomped on the back. I fell to the ground as well. I tried getting up again, but before I could they kicked me in the stomach. It was strong kick, so I wouldn't be surprised if they broke a rib or two. I rolled away, to get some distance between me and them. I staggered to my feet and waited for them to attack. The two that I had knocked own earlier were back on their feet and ready to fight. If I was ever going to win, I was going to have to fight a little dirtier, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

I knelt down, but kept an eye on my opponents as I grabbed a handful of dirt. When they all got close enough I let it fly, hitting them all square in the eyes, blinding them temporarily. I sent one flying into a wall with a kick to the head. He was down. I punched another one in the stomach and kicked him into a nearby dumpster. Only two more left. I hadn't noticed one of them pull out a pocket knife, and he swiftly swiped me on the shoulder. It wasn't very deep but it would definitely hamper my fighting abilities.

I was getting tired and slower by the minute. One of the two left held my arms while the other continued to punch my stomach. I was dazed for a moment but then quickly regained my composure. I kicked my legs up, getting the man, who had been punching me, in the head. He was out cold. I wrenched my arms free from the last man and landed a perfect punch to the side of his head. After making sure they were all unconscious I went out to locate Temari, she couldn't have gotten far in her condition.

As I looked for her, I held my hand to my shoulder to stop the bleeding. I was having a hard time finding her until I heard that familiar cough. I stopped in front of an alley, where I presumed the cough had come from.

"Temari?" Behind a stack of garbage sacks, Temari got up. She looked even worse now, her face was as white as a ghost and she was sweating. She coughed again. I rushed over to her and sat her down on the ground. "Just hold on Temari, only five more minutes."

:::

-Neji

Tenten and I were keeping ahead of the men behind us but, they were gaining on us. It was hard to ditch them because the streets were so wide, and there was no place really to hide. I really didn't want to have to fight, but it seemed like it was getting to be inevitable. We turned another corner and I saw a small alley way up ahead. When we had reached it, I quickly pulled Tenten in after me. I pulled her against my body to make us fit in the small space provided. I had a hand clasped gently over her mouth. To keep her quiet. They're footsteps got farther and farther away, but it was only a matter of time before they realized they had to backtrack to find us.

"Are they gone?" Tenten asked quietly.

"I think so." I whispered.

I kept Tenten behind me as I came out of the small alley way. I soon as I visible I punched, hard in the face. Tenten screamed my name as I hit the ground.

"Did you really think that little trick would work?" The man laughed heartily. I got up and wiped the blood from my lip.

"Tenten go hide." I said. She backed way slowly, her eyes wide with fear. I charged at the tall man. I was going to get rid of him fast. I punched him once in the stomach, then kneed him in the groin, his eyes got wide with pain. While I was fighting the tall one, another one that had lost our trail before, went after Tenten.

"NEJI!" I heard Tenten scream, immediately I went ran down the alley way to find that the bastard had backed Tenten up against a chain length fence. I ripped his fingers from fence and sent a punch right into his face, I then continued to kick him until he was out cold. I think U had broken his arm, jaw and possibly a few of his ribs.

"Oh Neji I was so scared." Tenten embraced me as she buried her face into my shirt. I could feel it get slightly wet, she was crying. I had never been in this situation before, a girl hugging me, but I had watched enough of Temari's awful soap operas to know what to do next. I brought my hands up slowly and placed one on her back and the other on her head as I pulled her closer to me. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I slowly released Tenten and put the phone to my ear.

"Did you lose them Shikamaru? Ok we're headed in your direction now."

:::

Back at the apartment, Tenten and Temari were in bed asleep. I wasn't surprised, they ad just gone through a traumatic experience.

"That was close." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, it was."

* * *

_I hope that wasn't too terribly full of mistakes but my fever is going up so I need to lay low...  
Hope you all like the Nejiten and Shikatema bits. :)  
I'm guessing that there will be atleast three or four more fillers until the plot starts to take place...  
Thanks for reading!!!_

_Please review and don't forget to fave and alert :) Even if you don't, check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	13. Meet the Parents

_Geez what was up with this site? lol  
I've had like the worst weekend ever! One of my very best friend's mom was in a horrible car accident. She's in the ICU at the hospital. I went to go see her yesterday and I... cried like a baby. It's hard seeing one of the moms who brought snacks every week to our girl scout meetings in that kind of condition. Her injuries make a long list so I won't elaborate but she's going to be fine. Damn drunk drivers...  
Anyway... any get well wishes would be just dandy :)  
Thanks for the awesome reveiws!  
Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Protection

Chapter 13

By: turtlechick

-Shikamaru

"Tenten get your ass in here! I've got good news!" Temari yelled from the kitchen. She had been on the phone for almost a half an hour now. The conversation had been filled with plenty of smiling on Temari's part. It sounded like whoever she was talking to, she and they were pretty close. It just made me want to know who she was talking to, since she hadn't explained yet.

Tenten flitted in the room quickly and Temari gave her the phone. Tenten took it hesitantly and put it to her ear. "Hello." She spoke for a wile as well and our interest was beginning to fade until we heard Tenten let out a high pitched scream. Just like that, Neji and I were curious to what was going on. It was different to be out of the loop like this.

Finally Tenten hung up the phone and the wait was over.

"What was that all about?" Neji asked.

"Our dads are coming home." Tenten answered cheerfully.

"Your dads?"

"Yeah there is a conference in town and they're going to make sure they come and visit." Temari said.

"Yeah and my mom is coming too." Tenten was ecstatic. I could see why they were so excited. They barely ever got to see either of their parents. It must be hard for the both of them.

:::

The drive to the airport; Temari and Tenten were exuberant, they couldn't stop smiling. Shikamaru parked the big black car near the entrance and we all filed in. This was a huge airport. There were hallways snaking in every direction, taking you exactly where you needed to go. To the right, was an industrial sized food court and to the left, the device where people pick up their suitcases. Temari immediately spotted her brothers and we joined them on a pair of benches. It was their father too, we should have expected them.

"So who's supposed to arrive first?" Temari asked,

"Anko is scheduled to get here first and then our dads after that." Kankerou answered.

The wait was long, boring and not mention long. I didn't have anything better to do, so I watched them as they waited. They were so excited, it got me thinking. If we were in their parent's shoes, would they be as excited to see Neji and I? It was a stupid question, but I had a feeling they might be. It was hard to tell though… Temari was hard to read, that was for sure.

Neji was on edge the whole time we were, as was I. Everyone knows that airports are the single worst place to try and protect someone. Sure, they're nice and open with a lot of vantage points but that also makes it a problem. It's the perfect place for an ambush. Even though there is extra security at airports, the kind that they have isn't really equipped for machine guns. I think Gaara and Kankerou could tell we were a bit uneasy, but didn't say anything, to not upset the girls. They were still on cloud nine.

"_Flight 708, coming from South America is now landing."_

"That's the one my mom is on!" Tenten exclaimed. A few minutes later the people began getting off of the airplane and entering the airport. I tried to pick out Tenten's mom but it was hard, since I had never met her. Neji was trying to do the same. We had heard a lot about her but almost nothing about her actual appearance.

"There she is." Temari said pointing to the crowd. I searched for someone resembling Tenten but no avail. Tenten rushed into the crowd, while we stayed a safe distance behind. She hugged a women with violet hair. She was easily taller than Tenten and slightly taller than even Temari. She was wearing fairly skimpy clothing and her hair was pulled up sloppily in a decorative clip. She was nothing either of us had expected to be Tenten's mother.

It was hard to realize that someone as…pure, as Tenten could have mom who looked almost the complete opposite. Before we knew it, we were both face to face with one of the scariest women we had ever seen.

"Are you sure these two are your body guards? They look scared to me." I struggled for words but Neji finally spoke.

"Tenten is in good hands. I assure you ma'am."

She narrowed her eyes. "I would hope so…" She let out a hearty laugh. "I'm only kidding boys. I'm Anko Mitarashi by the way." We both shook her hands, I was surprised by her iron grip. "When's that good for nothing father of yours going to get here? You know I hate waiting." She smiled and now the resemblance was apparent.

Tenten giggled. "Their flight will land in an hour or so."

"Wonderful." Her words were filled with sarcasm.

"So Anko, how was your trip to Bali?" Temari asked.

"Oh it was so full of excitement. The little tribe I was living with were so kind. They even made me an honorary chief for killing a local crocodile that had been terrorizing the children. I really wish I hadn't dropped my camera while I was skydiving down to the jungle." She was every thing that Tenten had said about her. Neji was extra attentive to listening to Anko's stories, almost like there would be a quiz on it later.

"You haven't changed a bit Anko." Temari said.

The next hour wasn't as boring as the last, only because it was filled with Anko's crazy stories. I would have been the first to call any regular person on a bluff if they had said some of these things, but something told me that all she was telling, were true.

"_Flight 235 coming in from New York city will be landing shortly."_

"This will probably the one time that father of yours will actually be on time, only because he's not the one controlling when he lands." Anko chuckled and so did the others.

"There's dad." Kankerou said pointing to a man ascending down a set of stairs. It was easy to tell that he was Temari's father because he resembled Gaara with his bright red hair. I saw Neji straighten up next to me. If there was anyone to impress it would be their fathers, they were the ones who had asked for us in the first place, 'the best.'

We were the best.

-Neji

I watched as Tenten ran into the crowd and jumped on a man with silver hair. Her father, I was guessing. Temari and her brothers also greeted their father with an embrace. We waited patently until they joined us again.

"You must be Neji and Shikamaru." We nodded politely. "It's so nice to meet the both of you. I'm Kakashi Hatake." We shook his hand, his grip was nothing compared to Anko's.

"I hope Temari hasn't given you boys too much trouble. She's known for being quite the handful." Temari rolled her eyes. "I'm Kouhei Suna." We shook his hand as well.

"So how long do you get to be here?" Temari asked quietly.

"Just for today unfortunately. We've got another conference the day after tomorrow." Her father said.

"What about you mom?"

"I'm afraid I've got to scoot as well after today. The world's not going to explore itself you know."

It was easy to tell that Tenten, and Temari and her brother's spirits were a little broken after hearing that. I guess they were expecting them to stay a little bit longer.

:::

We went dinner after picking them up at the airport. We went to a small fancy restaurant, much to Anko's distaste. They had convinced us also to sit with them at the table. We were just going to stand by the door, but they insisted we join them. That wasn't exactly the most professional thing to do, but we obeyed. At least we would be close in case of an attack. We had be even more alert, because we had a few extra lives to look after this evening.

Anko kept the conversation going with more of her stories. They were exciting that was for sure, but dangerous at that. I could see why Tenten wouldn't want to tag along with her mother.

Before we knew it the evening was over, and we bid Anko, Kakashi and Kouhei good night at their hotel. Tenten wanted them to stay with them, but with us, there just wasn't enough room for them all.

By the time we got to the apartments Tenten and Temari were exhausted.

"So what did you think of them?" Temari asked Shikamaru and I.

"A little confusing but a few of my questions were answered."

"I wouldn't have ever pictured either of your parents to look like that." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah we all make a pretty mixed match group." Tenten said giggling. "Everyone says I look nothing like either my mom, or dad. But they all say I remind them of my dad's personality."

I could believe that. Tenten and her father, Kakashi were both pretty level headed. Serious when they needed to be, but knew when to lighten up the mood. Her mother just contributed to her exotic looks.

Temari didn't talk about it at all, but from reading her file we knew that her mother had died giving birth to Gaara. There was no picture of her, but she probably was just like Temari.

Meeting them earlier just set the bar higher. We had to do an even better job now.

* * *

_I thought that chapter was needed :)  
I didn't know Gaara's dad's name so I made one up...  
(I know he's supposed to be a bad dude but not in this story.)  
Thanks for reading!_

_Please review and even if you don't, check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	14. Truth or Dare

_I've been a writing fool the past couple of days. lol  
In the last chpater I explained the situation of my best friend's mom.  
UPDATE - She's doing a lot better. A few days ago she was taken out of the ICU and is now in a recovery room. But with two broken legs, she won't be walking for a good 6 months the doctor says. She's in great spirits though. On friday she called her daughter (my friend) to come put makeup on her before anyone else came to see her. I haven't laughed so hard when I heard that. XD Thanks for the support, this whole thing has hit my community really hard...  
Oh and the boy that hit her is not doing well at all. I hope he doesn't die. My friend's mom is more worried about him than she is about herself...sigh.  
Thanks a bunch for the get well wishes :)  
Ok here's the chapter!!!  
Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

**

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**

Protection

Chapter 14

By: turtlechick

-Neji

Tenten's alarm hadn't gone off this morning, so we were running late. She never took long anyway, but Tenten was still a girl, and everyone knew that girls took forever to get ready in the morning. If she didn't hurry up though, we were going to be late to school.

"Hey you guys?" Temari said suddenly. We looked to her. "Neji you better watch Tenten's back today."

"What?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Today is transfer day, this is the start of the new semester and our school gets a lot of new transfer students. Let's just say that they don't really don't know their place yet. You guys know how Tenten is, always trying to find the good in people. They probably won't try anything but just make sure no one grabs her ass. Last year she was groped by over half of the little ingrates. " That would most definitely not be happening today. "Got it?" We nodded.

"Ok I'm ready." Tenten finally emerged from her room, in our usual uniform but it was obvious she hadn't done her hair very well. Strands of her hair were sticking out of her buns in all directions.

"Tenten you can't go out like that!" Temari said firmly. She rushed over to Tenten and loosened her buns so that she could secure them tightly. When she was done we headed out the door.

:::

Temari wasn't joking when she said there would be new transfers today. I had atleast gotten a little bit used to some of the students we already went to school with, but the number of new students was through the roof. Temari was also right about the boys that would be looking at Tenten. I guess I hadn't really thought of her like…that, because of the mission of course, but I guess she was very attractive. It was no wonder these new students couldn't keep their eyes off of her.

One time in class she dropped her pen and had to bend down to get it. One boy almost fell out of his chair trying to get a peek at her. And of course Tenten was oblivious to the whole situation.

"Neji you seem really close today, is something wrong?" We were in the hallway on our way to the next class.

As we walked all of the boys in the hall stared as Tenten walked through the hall. I was able to scare a few off but there were so many. "No, there is nothing wrong." Of course there was. We were able to keep a few terrorists away from these two but couldn't do anything about a few hundred horny boys.

"Well then why did you hit that boy in class?" She asked innocently. If only she knew…

"I thought he was a spy, but he was just a regular student." I didn't like making up lies.

"_Will all students in grade 11 please report to the auditorium, for a surprise assembly?"_

A surprise assembly?

"Come on Neji!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me off to the auditorium. "I wonder what this is all about!"

I hadn't been in the auditorium yet, but it was huge, but I guess it had to be to fit all of the students. For a private high school there sure were a lot of students.

Tenten spotted Temari and Shikamaru near the front and we took a seat next to them.

"Rough day Neji?" Shikamaru asked under his breath.

"You have no idea." I muttered back.

Just then the principal stepped onto the stage and stood at the podium. He was a wrinkly old man, but it was apparent that he must be very wise. I hadn't seen him much but everyone said good things about him, even Temari, and she hated authority figures.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why you've been brought here today. As you know this is the year that this class get's to go on their school trip. This year we have chosen you all to go to the beach." There was an eruption of applause and cheers from the students body.

I didn't see what the big deal was about. Shikamaru and I had gone to the beach plenty of times on a variety of missions, sure it was never for pleasure but all it was just a bunch of sand and the ocean. The final bell rang as everyone chatted about the upcoming trip.

"Come on boys, Tenten and I have some shopping to do." Since when did Temari shop? Shikamaru seemed as confused as I was.

:::

-Shikamaru

This was our fifth grocery store, fifth! Temari and Tenten didn't shop very often so when they didn't find something right away they were sure it wasn't there, so here were at our fifth store. The strange thing was that the girls still hadn't told us why they were dragging us around town to every grocery store. It wasn't like them nowadays to keep things from us, but every time we asked them, Temari had to make sure she covered Tenten's mouth. I guess Tenten wasn't the best at keeping secrets.

"You two really aren't going to tell us what this is all about?" Neji asked, he really didn't like to be out of the loop.

"Sorry Neji, but this is a no boys allowed event." That was the first time they gave atleast a hint about what they were doing. "You guys will find out later tonight, so just be patient." Temari said with a sly smile. Tenten was just trying not to spill the beans about whatever was happening later tonight.

:::

When we got back to the apartment; Temari and Tenten immediately shooed us into our room and told us we couldn't come out. The only reason we obeyed was because the walls were paper thin and if something were to go wrong, we would know about it.

I made the mistake of leaving our room to use the restroom. I finally got a peep of the living room, the girls had put out all of the food we had bought earlier today in a huge spread, enough to feed the entire auditorium at school. What were they doing? Feeding an army?

"Shikamaru you better get back in your room before I have to throw you in there!" I heard Temari yell from the kitchen. How did she know I was even out of our room? Needless to say, I scurried back into my room.

About another hour later of waiting quietly in our room we heard Tenten scream, Neji and I jumped into action and ran outside. There wasn't anyone being kidnapped but we did have a visitor. The reason Tenten was screaming was because Matsuri was here. She and Tenten were hugging like the first day we had met them at the coffee shop.

As soon as Tenten noticed Neji and I, she covered her mouth.

"Sorry Neji." She knew Neji didn't like her to yell unless it was a real emergency. Matsuri giggled. There was a knock on the door and Temari answered it.

"Ino, there you are." Now Ino was here. What were these girls doing? They each gave her a hug and then there was yet another knock on the door. This time Tenten opened it. She lunged at whoever was on the other side.

We could hear a girly laugh from the other side. "It's good to see you too Tenten." Sakura emerged through the door. Sakura too?

"What's going on?" I asked, still confused but a few of the pieces were coming together.

"We're having our annual sleep over." Tenten said proudly.

Sleepover? I'm sure Neji and I looked like a pair of idiots since we had no idea what a sleepover was. I could come up with a few educated guesses from the name, but why would they just want to sleep over?

"We have it every year, and rotate where we have it. This year it's mine and Tenten's turn." Temari finally explained. "It's supposed to be a secret, but I guess we kind of screwed that up." She let out a nervous laugh. "So go back to your room and no one get's hurt, ok?"

Neji and I did as we were told and went back to our room.

It was a pretty boring night, relaxing and quiet for the most part, but boring. I guess I should appreciate the break that we're getting tonight. We had no idea what was going on outside but we did hear them a few times. Tenten squealed a couple of times but then immediately stopped, followed by the others laughing at her. Neji smiled every time. It had gotten silent, Neji was reading a book while I took the opportunity to catch up on my sleep.

My eyes fluttered open when I heard the door open and the girls came in. The other girls watched as Temari advanced into our room headed straight for me. What was she doing?

I was in utter shock when she grabbed the collar of my shirt and kissed me. I was still groggy from my nap but that woke me right up. They left the room wordlessly, but I could hear Tenten as they left.

"I didn't think you would actually do it Temari."

"I told you Tenten, I always win at truth or dare."

* * *

_I hope everyone got a few chuckles out of this chapter, because this one marks the end of the light hearted chapters...  
After this one I'll start getting into the actual plot. :)  
I hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading!_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	15. Revelations

_Geez where have I been???  
I honestly don't know. lol  
Updating Belonging, put back my update for this story...  
Oh and by the way Waterstar. I can't reply to anonomous reviewers. So get and account!  
I hope you all like it!  
Thanks to my reviewers!  
Enjoy!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

**

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**

Protection

Chapter 15

By: turtlechick

-Neji

Tomorrow was the day that we were supposed to leave on this trip the school had planned for us. Tenten and Temari were definitely excited. Apparently, this trip was what all the students looked forward to. Mostly because the school didn't skimp on the students expense. We were going to stay at a five star hotel, eat at all the best restaurants, and be transported by limousines every where we went. I'm sure half of the kids got live like that all the time, but it seemed like everyone was excited.

The four of us were at the mall; Tenten was sipping on her smoothie, while Temari went over the things she still had to buy, even though Shikamaru's arms were full to the brim. I think combined the had already bought sixteen bathing suits. Apparently trips like this took a long time to prepare for. That day after school, we immediately went shopping, so basically the past two days have been a living hell.

"Temari are we almost done?" Tenten whined, taking another sip of her strawberry smoothie.

"Almost Tenten, just a few more stores." She said, eyes still on her list.

"Don't you think you have enough stuff Temari?" Shikamaru suggested.

"No, I don't Shikamaru. We're going to be there for a week. I have to be prepared, since I can't come home and get my other clothes."

"This is troublesome." He muttered. I doubt Temari heard it but Tenten did, smoothie almost came out of her nose.

"How about Tenten and I make you guys dinner, because you two are being such good sports?" She suggested. I liked Tenten's cooking, but we hadn't had Temari's yet, it would definitely be an experience.

"Fine." Shikamaru said.

"Good, we'll go the grocery store after this." I think Shikamaru was rethinking his decision.

"Neji, you're awfully quiet today." Tenten said with a smile. "Is there something bothering you?" I couldn't explain it, but something was bothering me. Something was in the back of my mind telling me that something just wasn't right. I might have to call Tsunade tonight and ask her if any there were any new revelations in the case.

"No, everything's fine Tenten."

"Oh ok."

"Ok let's go." Temari said, she tugged on Shikamaru's arm to make him get up. He had dozed off for a moment. He opened his eyes and followed Temari down the mall, still half asleep.

I wonder if Shikamaru felt the same thing I did? He could usually could pick up on things faster than I could.

"So what do you want to eat tonight Neji?" Tenten asked beside me.

"I'm sure what ever you make will be fine Tenten." I was seriously spacing out today. I just couldn't shake this feeling.

"Alright Neji." Tenten knew that something was on my mind.

:::

"Well we better get cooking." Temari announced as we came through the door to the apartments. She threw the one bag she was carrying on the couch as Shikamaru unloaded the stack of bags in his hands. I was lucky that Tenten didn't make me carry any of her bags, even though I had offered. "You two get to your room so Tenten and I can make dinner." She said pointing her finger in the direction of our room. "We don't want any distractions."

A few hours later, Tenten and Temari called us out. I had to wake Shikamaru up and soon we were in kitchen. On the counter was the buffet of all buffets. Shikamaru sat down on one of the stools.

"Did you poison any of it?" He asked with a yawn.

Temari smacked him on the head with the rubber spatula in her hand. "Shut up Shikamaru, we didn't poison any of it."

"Dig in." Tenten said, taking her apron off and setting it next to her.

:::

The dinner they had made was amazing. We made a deal that if they cooked, then we had to clean. I scrubbed the dishes, while Shikamaru was in the bathroom. He had better not make me do this all by myself. Tenten and Temari were watching TV.

"Neji." I turned around to see Shikamaru, his cell phone in hand. His face was completely serious. The call must have been from head quarters. I set down the dishes in my hand and followed Shikamaru,

"I'll finish the dishes Neji." Tenten said, before I was too far away.

Shikamaru closed the door behind me.

"It's Tsunade."

"I figured as much. Put her on speaker."

He nodded and put the tiny phone on speaker.

"Tsunade, we're both here." I said.

"_Alright. We've had a few changes in the mission. Recently, more and more ransom notes have been coming in. More than before. We think that Orochimaru is almost ready to proceed with his plans. I think it would be best if you got them out of the city for a few days."_

I knew something was wrong.

"Tsunade, the school is sending us on a class trip tomorrow." Shikamaru said.

"_Good, that's a perfect cover. One last thing. Don't inform your charges. In this situation, the less they know the better. We need you all to keep a low profile."_

"Understood." We said in unison. I don't know if I liked the idea of not telling Tenten this new information. I felt like she had a right to know. It was her life that was the one in danger.

"_Dismissed."_ The phone clicked off and we were left in silence.

"This makes things a bit more complicated than before." Shikamaru said.

"I agree." We were going to have to watch them like hawks for the next week. It would be a miracle if we could last that long without them catching on. Tenten was already suspicious of my behavior.

Just then we heard a squeal from the kitchen. Shikamaru and I rushed out to see Tenten and Temari drenched from head to toe. Temari had the sink nozzle in her hand and was spraying Tenten. Tenten had a cup and was filling it with water and then splashing Temari. We stepped closer, the kitchen was in an even bigger mess than before.

Shikamaru almost slipped on the wet floor. "We can't even leave you two for five minutes without you making a mess?" Shikamaru said, his hand on the counter for support.

Tenten and Temari let out another laugh. "Sorry Shikamaru." Tenten said. She tried to get out of the kitchen without falling, which was pretty funny, she and Temari both. Tenten had almost made it to me, dry land, when she slipped, and landed in my arms. She laughed again. "Sorry Neji."

I couldn't help but smile at her clumsiness. I helped her to safety and starting cleaning up their mess along with Shikamaru.

I knew I couldn't tell Tenten about the mission. I don't think I could ruin this trip for her.

* * *

_That was cute right?  
The next chapter is going to be action PACKED!  
Be ready... lol  
Thanks a lot for reading!_

_Please review and even if you don't, check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	16. Decisions

_Sorry this update took so long. But I don't think that will be happening again.I'm going to delete Belonging, I've completely lost interest. (don't kill me...)  
I really only had the ending planned and I have like three stories in my head, one is similar to this one.  
A Nejiten and Shikatema in the boys POV, because this one is so much fun, look out for it! XD  
Enjoy!!_

_Thanks to my reviewers: e1nav57, InuyashaNeji, Youkai Koneko, Nerd4eva, xXkickass-kunoichiXx, Shubhs, DelinquentDuo, Zinam, Herrblade, CatxRock07, xmarachanx, Tentenperson-Shikamarugal, tenten2295, and Deyanira-chan._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

* * *

**Protection**

Chapter 16

By: turtlechick

Neji-

Today was the day of this trip, and to tell the truth, I wasn't looking forward to it. Something about what Tsunade had said the day before was still bothering me. I've never been this much on edge since my very first mission, the one where I first met Orochimaru. I couldn't shake this feeling. The feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong today. Shikamaru definitely felt it too, he hadn't let up his guard once today.

We all woke up extra early this morning, because Temari said she would need the extra time to pack. We suggested she did it the night before, but she wouldn't hear of it. Tenten was already packed, of course, she never took long.

"Ok I'm ready." Temari announced as she came out with four bags draped over her arms and shoulders.

Tenten giggled. "Temari do you really need all of that stuff?" Tenten herself only had two bags.

"Of course I do Tenten. It's better to be prepared." She smiled. "Now come on before we're late for our flight." We were going to be late if Temari hadn't come out just then.

I was relieved that neither Tenten or Temari had caught on to our behavior yet. Tsunade was probably right, it was for the best if they were kept in the dark.

:::

The whole grade was there. It was nice out today, which seemed slightly ironic, considering the feeling I had in my stomach. The sun was shining and everything seemed right with the world. Maybe I was just overreacting. I needed to calm down if I was going to make it on this trip.

"Come on Neji." Tenten's voice snapped me back to reality. She was tugging on my arm. "It's time to get on the plane."

"Oh right."

Before we got on our chaperone gave us our ticket, which had the number of where we would be sitting. Tenten received hers and then I was given mine. She compared out seats and frowned.

"Aw, we aren't next to each other Neji." I thought it was extremely strange that we weren't. The department easily got us into the same classes. Why didn't they put us near each other on the plane incase something went wrong?

I walked to my seat, Shikamaru was there. I sat next to him placing my bags in the compartment above us. As I sat down I noticed that Tenten and Temari were in perfect view a few rows ahead of us and my nerves went away once again.

"Just calm down Neji, I don't think anything will happen. We might as well just enjoy this." Shikamaru muttered.

He was probably right. Making a move five hundred feet in the air wasn't the best plan. Orochimaru was a crazy son of a bitch, but he wasn't stupid.

The 'fasten you seatbelts' sign lit up and the plane started to hum. Everyone fastened their seatbelts and prepared themselves for the ride. I was surprised that Shikamaru wasn't asleep. He always slept on flights. This was only supposed to be a two hour trip, but Shikamaru got every chance he could to sleep.

The aircraft began to pull forward faster and faster, until it had lifted off the ground and the poeple below looked like ants. I glanced at Tenten and Temari. Temari was reading one of her fashion magazines while Tenten watched as the ground became farther and farther away.

Everything seemed to be in order, so I leaned back and let my thoughts travel. Only two more hours left.

:::

When were going to arrive? We had been on this flight for almost three hours and yet it showed no signs of stopping any time soon. There was something else that was bothering me. The flight attendants on the plane weren't doing their job, and most of them were men.

"Shikamaru?" I said as I kept my eyes forward and my voice low, I was trying not to attract attention to myself.

"Did you finally notice?" When had he figured out that something was wrong?

"Yes."

"Took you long enough." He muttered. "I think the plane has been hijacked." My heart sped up. How could I have not noticed?

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Nothing yet, let them make the first move. We don't want to blow our cover unless it's absolutely necessary."

I nodded. He was right. I looked towards Tenten and Temari. Temari was listening to music, Tenten was asleep on her shoulder.

"_Hello passengers. We're having a slight problem with the weather and will need to make an emergency landing."_

Shikamaru's guess was confirmed. The crew was no longer in control of the airplane. There wasn't a cloud in the sky; no reason to have to land. If they were going to make a move it would be when we landed.

I tried to look at the men to see if I recognized any of them. A real flight attendant came out from the curtain and in the exact moment, I saw Orochimaru. I quickly looked away but his face burned in my memories. His sadistic smile would never leave my mind.

"Neji, what's wrong?" Shikamaru asked.

"He's here," was all I could choke out. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. The situation was getting worse and worse. Gravity seemed to shift forward as we started to come to a landing. The plane skidded to a halt.

Shikamaru and I both looked out the window. We were no where close to any sort of ocean or any body of water for that matter. It looked as if we had landed in a secluded mountain base.

I watched as the men I could see, got off the plane. Why did they leave? Then it all became clear as the heater started to blare.

"Damn." I cursed. This was tactics 101. Make your targets distressed and agitated and they won't be able to think straight. Did they know that we were both on the plane? Or were they doing this just in case?

I think that our cover was still intact.

:::

Thirty minutes had passed and the students were getting restless. Most were angry at the situation because no one had told us what was going on. Shikamaru and I were trained for this sort of situation. We couldn't let this heat get to us. I glanced at the girls. Tenten looked back at the same moment and gave me a look of terror. She was aware that something was wrong.

Just then, a few of the men returned, and Shikamaru and my worst nightmare came true. They went straight for Tenten and Temari; grabbing them both roughly by the arm and yanking into the back of the plane.

"Get off of me!" Temari yelled. Tenten struggled but said nothing.

None of the other students moved, afraid of what might happen to them.

I started to get up, but Shikamaru pulled me back down.

"Just wait a moment Neji." I nodded and counted to ten in my head. That was as long as I was going to wait till I followed. After the agonizing wait was over Shikamaru and I jumped into action.

As we ran past section after section the plane, there was still no sign of anyone. Why had the school gotten a plane this big?

"Let me go!" We heard Temari yell a little ways ahead. Shikamaru pushed past me and through another curtain. We got there just in time to see Temari get slapped harshly on the face. She fell to the floor and Shikamaru quickly slipped past her.

He quickly thrust his palm into the bastard's face. He held his face in agony. Shikamaru then proceeded to knee the man in the stomach. He fell to the floor writhing in pain. Shikamaru let him be and went back to Temari.

"Are you alright Temari?" Shikamaru asked kneeling next to her.

She nodded speechlessly, a hand still pressed to her cheek.

"Temari where is Tenten?" I asked calmly. She was no where to be seen.

"U-u-um." She was shaking from stress. "Some man took her that way." She said pointing to the back of the plane.

"Shikamaru stay here. I'll go find Tenten." He nodded and I ran off. I pulled my gun closer to my chest, not sure what was right around the corner. I was almost to the end of the plane, and there was still no sign of Tenten. I was beginning to get worried.

The back of the plane was in sight, but off the right something else was there. The emergency hatch was open. I hesitantly got off of the plane and stepped onto the landing strip.

"I thought I smelled a rat." That voice sent shivers down my spine. Under the plane; stepped out Orochimaru with Tenten in his arms. He had a gun pressed to the side of her face and his other arm wrapped around her neck. Her eyes were squeezed tightly and tears threatened to overflow.

"Orochimaru." I growled. "Let Tenten go."

"I'm not stupid boy. Little Tenten here is my bargain out of here." He stroked her face. She tried to avoid his hand and shut her eyes tighter.

"Do you really think you can get out of here? Shikamaru is calling for back up as we speak and soon this place will be swarming with agents."

"I'll be gone before that." He said with a grin.

"What makes you think that?" I asked shakily, but I couldn't let him get to me.

"Because you're going to be making that decision for me, Neji."

"What are you talking about?" I snapped back.

"I'll give you two choices Neji." I said nothing. "You can either let me go and get the little panda back, or try to defy me and see her dead." I froze. So it was either capture Orochimaru and put Tenten danger, or let him go free and get Tenten to safety.

The answer was easier than I would have thought.

"Give me Tenten."

"Good answer boy."

He let Tenten go and pushed her towards me. She latched onto me. I kept my gun on Orochimaru, but then put my attention on Tenten. She was sobbing into my shirt. I looked back up and Orochimaru was gone.

"Neji, I was so scared." She said through her sobs.

"It's alright now Tenten, you're safe."

"Neji!" It was Shikamaru and Temari. They came up to us. "I was able to call for back up and for someone to get us all out of here. It should be soon. Are you both alright?" He asked looking at Tenten on my chest.

"Yes, I'll think she'll be fine. I let him get away." I said.

"Orochimaru?" Shikamaru said. I nodded.

"That was him?" Temari asked softly.

"Yes that was Orochimaru." Shikamaru answered her. Her face went pale and she hugged herself tightly.

"Back up is here." I said looking towards the north. In the sky was probably ten helicopters; here to take us all home. "Can you walk Tenten?" I asked her quietly. She nodded. The helicopters landed and agents came out and began to apprehend the other hijackers and started to load the rest of the students on as well. We would probably get a call from Tsunade later. I was guessing that there would be some changes in the mission. This might have been the final straw.

One thing that the girl's parents didn't want to do was take them away from their friends during this whole ordeal. But after the last few days, that might be the only way to keep them safe.

:::

As soon as we entered the door, the phone rang. Temari picked it up slowly and put it to her ear. "Hello? Ok." She took the phone away from her ear and handed it to me. "It's for you two."

I took it and put it to my ear.

"_We've got him."_

* * *

_I hope you all liked the actioness.  
And sorry for the cliffhanger, but it's not that bad. :)  
Thanks for reading!_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick…out_


	17. Static

_I said these would come faster . :)  
I've decided not to delete Belonging... (details of the situation in my profile)  
Anyway, this chapter is intense!  
A couple of you guessed about what would happen and one of you was right. XD (you just love to ruin my fun?) lol  
Enjoy!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Protection

Chapter 17

By: turtlechick

Shikamaru-

"Wh-hat?" Neji stuttered into the phone. If it was meant for the two of us, it was Tsunade. "Are you sure?" He asked a little more calmly now. His voice was calmer but his face still showed hints of fear. What had she said? Neji looked at me, and handed me the phone.

"Hello?" I spoke.

"_We've got him." _It was Tsunade alright.

"Orochimaru?" I just realized the stupidity of my question. Of course it was him.

"_Yes."_

"When did this happen?"

"_After I sent that crew to pick you up I sent a few men to just look around for any men that we might have missed on the plane. He was found nearby, an agent quickly apprehended him. Orochimaru is asking for you and Shikamaru for his interrogation."_

"Us?"

"_Yes, he won't talk to anyone else."_

I couldn't think. All of these thoughts ran through my mind. I couldn't figure out why Orochimaru wanted to talk to us of all people? We were the ones who had just stopped his plans to kidnap Temari and Tenten. Did he want to talk to us because of personal reasons? Was it only because he knew Neji and I? Plenty of scenarios went through my head, but I couldn't figure our which one was right. The best plan of action might be for Neji and I to go see what he wants.

"Ok. We're on our way." She didn't give me answer, just hung up. I did the same.

"What did she say?" Temari asked me.

"They found him, not far from where he hijacked the plane." I answered rubbing my temples.

"So what does that mean?" She asked more sternly.

"I don't know. Neji, he wants to talk to us both."

"Why?"

"She doesn't know. He won't talk to anyone else."

"I see, so we're going?" I only nodded. I wasn't sure if I was making the right decision.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Tenten asked.

"Only for a little while, we'll be back soon." Neji replied. "Let's go Shikamaru." I started out the door and heard Neji close it behind me. As we went down the elevator, I put my hand in my pocket, there I could feel the walkie talkie Temari had bought me for my birthday. I never left home without it, so far I hadn't had to use it. I was content with never using it.

:::

Neji and I were both silent on the short drive to the headquarters set up just outside of town. Neji was probably doing the same thing I was, trying to figure out what Orochimaru was planning. So far I was coming up blank.

When we reached the base, we went straight to the holding cells. Shizune was there waiting for us.

"He's in there." She pointed to the two-way mirrored room behind her, there sat Orochimaru, with a small grin plastered on his face.

"Before we go in I want to speak to the man who brought him in." Neji said, eyes narrowed.

"Oh yes, he's right there." The man she pointed to, was actually a familiar face. We had gone on several high ranking missions with him in the past. I should have known that Tsunade would send him on a scouting mission, it was his specialty after all.

"Sai."

"There you two are, the whole department has been waiting to hear what Orochimaru is up to. I have to tell you something about when I captured him." We listened. "I expected him to put up much more of a fight. I thought he was supposed to be some big bad weapons dealer? It was one of the easiest jobs I've had in a while. I was almost like he wanted me to take him in."

The pieces were coming together but there were still a few missing things I didn't know quite yet.

"Thanks Sai." He shrugged and we returned to the interrogation room. Neji stopped in front of the door, his hand lingered on the doorknob, then he finally stepped in.

"Ah, boys lovely to see you again. I'm afraid this is such short notice." We said nothing, just sat down at the two chairs across from him.

"We don't want small talk Orochimaru, we came to talk business." I said.

"Small talk, business talk, what's the difference?"

"Stop your stalling, what do you want us here for?" I said, bored, he was already getting on my nerves.

"Now, why can't I have a nice chat with two colleagues?"

"We're not colleagues." Neji snapped.

"Oh come now Neji, we've worked together." He said. Neji narrowed his eyes.

"Just stop Orochimaru, we know that you're up to something. We've already got you in custody, just fess up." I didn't actually think that he would actually tell us anything, but it was worth a try.

"Fine, I was done anyway. Tell me do you know where your little girl friends are?" He cracked a smile.

"They're at home, safe." Neji said.

"Are you sure about that?"

Right then and there, it hit me. This was a trap, a set up. I got up out of my chair, Neji did the same. Had he figured it out too? I stumbled out of the room. This was a trap, and I had missed it. My instincts told me something was wrong and I didn't even act upon them.

"Shikamaru wait, what's wrong?" Neji yelled after me.

"It was a trick and we fell for it." I said as I got in the driver's seat of the car.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded.

"It was all part of his plan. Our whole mission played right into his hands." He still didn't get it. "It was all just part of his plan. He knows us both, he knows how we think. We were the only ones for the job, not only because we're the best in the business. We're easy to manipulate. He didn't actually plan on taking them on the plane, that was just a distraction. He could have gotten away and we know it. And the way Sai so easily captured him was just another part. He knew he could get us into that room and away from them. By going there today, we sealed Temari and Tenten's fate."

"So what are you saying?" Neji's voice shook.

The device in my pocket hissed with static then went silent.

"Does that answer your question?" His face went pale.

:::

Neji-

By the time we reached the right floor, I couldn't feel my hands. I could barely breathe and my feet felt like bricks. As soon as the elevator doors opened our eyes went straight to the door, it was open. Shikamaru ran down the hall, I couldn't. I watched his reaction as he reached it and walked in. He stopped and took a step back, he backed into the wall and slid down slowly, eyes and mouth wide open.

I stepped into the room and was horrified at the scene in front of me. The whole place was in shambles; couches overturned, paintings were on the ground, the table was on its side, plates were smashed, and the TV was on. If didn't know what had actually happened I would have guessed that a tornado had come through. Signs of a struggle were every where.

"Tenten." I knew my effort was in vain, but her name slipped from my mouth.

Needless to say, there was no answer.

The next thing I knew I was on knees and then my hands. My head was spinning with emotion, more than I had ever had at once; anger, hate, sadness, worry. I just wanted to punch something, and so I did. I slammed my hand into the kitchen floor, until it was bloody and swollen.

And for the first time in the first time in my life, I cried, and it wasn't from the throbbing pain in my knuckles.

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_Did you see that coming?  
Tell me I'd like to know. XD  
It was a little short I know...  
Anyway, I hope you all liked it._

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	18. Taking Care of Business

_Sorry this took a little longer than usual, but believe it or not I was busy. I'm never busy... :)  
Anyway, this chapter is intense and longer than some of my other chapters.  
I also figured out a way to squeeze that loveable blond into the story.  
Unfortunately there will be no Naruhina but, oh well.  
Oh, and I forgot to thank my awesome reviewers last time so... THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!!  
That is all.  
Enjoy!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Protection

Chapter 18

By: turtlechick

-Neji

Returning to headquarters only to report to Tsunade that we had lost Tenten and Temari, was the single hardest thing I was ever going to have to do. Not just because of her reaction, but it was hard to admit to myself. I didn't want to say out loud that they were gone, it just made the situation sound more hopeless. It was hitting Shikamaru hard as well. He just didn't look like himself. He was always so level headed, so calm. Now he was jittery, he just wasn't the Shikamaru I knew.

"She'll see you now." Shizune said quietly as she held the door open for us. We both stepped in quietly and stood up straight and saluted to our commanding officer. She had already been informed of the situation over the phone so atleast we would have to do that.

It was a long time before she said anything at all. She just shuffled through papers, not once looking at us.

"Boys… what do you have to say for your self?" She said in a low voice, still not looking up from the stack of disorganized papers on her desk.

"We take full responsibility for the current situation." I said as strongly as I could. I was preparing myself for our punishment, or atleast the notice of our suspension.

"And what do you need?" I was confused. I looked at Shikamaru he looked just as confused as I did. What was she saying?

"Excuse me ma'am?" I asked.

"What will you be needing to finish this mission? She looked up from her papers to see our confused expressions. "You both know the severity of this mission. I hope you don't think that you'll just get someone else to clean up your mess? This is your screw up. You two will be responsible for finishing this mission to the end."

I was speechless, never in my wildest dreams would I have ever though that she would be letting Shikamaru and I finish this mission. We were the ones who had screwed this whole thing up. I just didn't get it. Why was she doing this? I glanced at Shikamaru, he looked more like himself; going through scenarios in his head.

"Are you boys deaf? I asked you what you will need for this mission?" I didn't have to say anything, I knew what Shikamaru was going to say. There were three men in particular that we had worked with in the past. They didn't come with us as frequently as each other, but they were the best in their field. Other than the normal man power we would receive, those three and Shikamaru and myself, would be enough to get the job done.

Shikamaru looked up. "We only want to request three people." She nodded signifying his statement. "Sai, Shino Aburame, and Naruto Uzumaki."

"I thought as much." She said. "Alright I will send out the orders. You are to get started as soon as possible." She didn't have to tell us twice. "You are dismissed for this time being." We turned around to leave her office. "One more thing boys." We turned to face her again. "I have already informed their families, they are on their way here now. I just thought you should know." We nodded and left without another word.

I had spent so much time worrying about Tenten and Temari that I hadn't once thought of their families. I was glad that I wouldn't be the one to tell either of them. I stand corrected, that would have been the hardest thing to do. I don't know if I could bear to see the people's reactions, the ones that had put their trust in us to look after their loved ones. We just had to get them back, if not for us, then for them.

:::

-Shikamaru

To say that I was surprised my Tsunade's decision was putting it lightly. But at this point I was probably going to find them anyway, even if I had to go against her orders. Neji and I had talked earlier about her decision. It had only been a brief discussion but we were in complete agreement.

When we arrived at the station being provided to us, out team was already waiting for us. Along with the regular man power provided for these missions, were the three men we would really need. As soon as we entered the room they all lined up for inspection. Neji and I were the leaders for the mission.

Neji and I walked along the line of men and finally stopped our stride at the first man we had requested; Sai. The best in his field bay far. He was a scout. He mostly went on the under the radar missions. His pale, tall and skinny figure made him perfect for stealth. Other than being good at laying low, he was also an excellent assassin. I had watched him before, usually the men he fought never even knew what hit them, when he either knocked them out or killed them, whichever one was required for the mission.

"Sai." Neji said. He nodded.

"I knew this wasn't over." He said.

Next we stopped at Shino Aburame, also the best in his field; technology. His nickname in the force was the "bug man." On account that he was able to turn just about anything into a listening device. He was good at thinking on his feet and was extremely smart. His brains almost could surpass my own. He spent most of his time with his computers so that made him somewhat, unsocial. He usually wore a jacket with tall hoods and a pair of sunglasses to hide his eyes. He didn't talk much but he never really needed to get the job done. We had worked with him on only one mission before but he never ceased to amaze me with his talents with a keyboard.

Shino only nodded, he never needed words to know what others were thinking.

The last person we had requested was a little different than the others, or any soldier for that matter. Naruto was a lot of things… one he definitely happened to be was determined, and we would need that for this mission. We weren't going to give up until Temari and Tenten were back safe. Naruto was a nice guy, a little loud but tough. Most people gave him a hard time when he entered the academy, but he never gave up. He could give the biggest guys a hard time with that right hook of his. On one occasion, he had even taken out Neji, something that was thought to be impossible before.

Before Neji or I could get in a word edgewise, Naruto stuck out his famous thumbs up. He was known for it now. He did it before every mission.

"Don't worry guys. I Naruto Uzumaki, will get these girls back for you." I said nothing but Neji snorted behind me. I don't think he truly got over his fight with Naruto a couple years back. Neji was the one to definitely hold a grudge.

"Where would you like us to start?" Sai wasn't usually the one to take orders from anyone, but he knew the gravity of the mission.

"We're basically starting from nothing, even though we have Orochimaru in custody. I doubt he'll tell us anything useful, but Neji and I will interview him anyway. We need you all to start with everything from recent places that he's stayed to who's he has spoken with in the past couple of weeks. We need to know everything. No stone can go unchecked, they have to be found. Once we have a few leads, we'll start to infiltrate a few bases and work from there." I nodded and they sprang into action.

Neji and I started out the door.

"Where are you two going?" Sai asked.

Neji turned around. "We have some things to take care of then we'll be starting Orochimaru's interrogation." Sai shrugged his shoulders and started flipping through a few books on criminals.

:::

The other business that we had to take care of was the families. I don't think I was man enough to talk to them, but I wanted to see them. I wanted to see how they were doing. I wanted to see if they hated us. More than anything I wanted to let them know that we were going to bring them home, but I would have to work up to that.

Neji and I passed the holding room, which conveniently was a one way mirror. We could see them but they couldn't see us. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Neji. His fist was balled up tight as he watched Tenten's father cradle his wife in his arms. No matter how strong any person was, losing a child was the worst. Temari and her family were the complete opposite. None of them hugged or tried to do anything to console each other, they just sat there. Gaara sat with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, while Kankerou just sat and stared at his hands. Kouhei, didn't have a speck of emotion on his pale face. We had promised to ourselves that we would do a good job for them, and look now. We had failed every single one of them. I wouldn't be slightly surprised if they despised Neji and I with everything they had.

Now was the easy part of the day; seeing Orochimaru. With him Neji and I could let go all of our emotion with one fail swoop. He was going to pay for what he and his men had done to Tenten and Temari.

:::

Orochimaru was already in a holding cell by the time we had arrived. He sat there with his hands folded across the table and a grin across his face. He wouldn't have that grin for long.

We stepped in.

"Ah, Boys, please do sit down, I'll make this short and sweet." His smile only grew wider. "I'll make a deal with you two, one that will allow us all to leave here happy."

We said nothing. "The first part of my deal is simple; you let me go."

"The hell we will." Neji snapped.

"Now you didn't let me finish. Let me go and I'll return one of them. Maybe the tall blonde? She's quite pretty you know? But I'm sure you do. You've spent the last few months with her anyway. Without me there to look after her I don't know how my men will treat her."

"Shut up!" I yelled.

"Did I hit a cord with you Shikamaru?" He laughed. "Once I'm free and you have one girl with you, I'll receive my money. The we'll talk about the other one. The cute Brunette, perhaps? She's couldn't hurt a fly could she? I'm sure that's the case. Fragile as well, just one small outburst and my men might… snap." He made the motion of breaking a twig with his hands.

If he didn't stop Neji was going to snap.

"Orochimaru, I don't know what you were thinking when you made this little plan of yours but it isn't going to happen. You better get used to these concrete walls, because you are never going to see the light of day, ever again. We are going to find them, without your help, and when we do we are going to make sure that you get the punishment you deserve. And if a single hair on their head is out of place, I will come here and deal with you personally. I'm sure Neji would say the same thing we wasn't trying to control himself enough not to kill you right now. Think about that while you rot in here with that smirk on your face. You bastard."

I got up abruptly and left the room, I could feel Neji's angry aura behind me. I wasn't looking at Neji but I knew what he was going to next. He wasn't much of a hothead and he rarely ever had any sort of outburst, but I think this was his breaking point. I knew I was right, when I heard the crash of glass behind me. He had broken the one way mirror leading to Orochimaru's holding room.

I turned around just in time to see a hint of fear trickle across Orochimaru's face.

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_Oh yeah, Orochimaru is goin' down... lol  
I predict about four or five more chapters before this story will come to an end.  
I promise to make them awesome filled chapters though.  
There won't be too much Nejiten or Shiktema until they find them,  
but I told you people before that I was keeping them as professional as possible... so :P  
I hope you liked it :)_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	19. Surprises Aren't Always Bad

_OK I'll keep this short and sweet. :)  
This chapter took forever... don't know why... lol  
Anyway, thanks for the reviews!!!  
Enjoy!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Protection**

Chapter 19

By: turtlechick

- Neji

I was able to calm my breathing before we tried this one. Another base that had come up on our list; of possible places that Tenten and Temari might be held. This one was the fourth today and all the others had been empty or been full of thugs that we had all captured. I didn't want to lose hope, no I couldn't, but I was beginning to feel almost useless. Tenten and Temari and not to mention their families were counting on us and so far we had come up with nothing.

The whole team was doing the best they could, as fast as they could, but I couldn't help feel like we could be faster.

"Neji are you ready?" Shino's monotonous voice in my ear snapped me back to the situation at hand.

"Yes." I replied. We stood outside the door, a group on each side. We were easily able to take out the few guards surrounding the perimeter, without them signaling to their comrades inside. On the other side of the door was Sai and behind him, Naruto; both ready for my instructions, along Shikamaru behind me.

We had so much riding on this mission. Was I really the best person to be doing this? I almost chuckled to myself. This was certainly the first time I had ever doubted myself this much during a mission.

"As far as I can tell, there are only six men on the other side of the door. It shouldn't be a problem for you. As soon as you get in take a left and there will be more guards. I don't detect any heavy weaponry but we have no idea what they're capable of. Stay on your toes. As soon as they are taken care of turn around, there seems to be place with a hallway, that has rooms every where. If Tenten and Temari are in that base then there are probably there."

"Ok Shino." The mic turned off and I looked to the rest of the crew. "Did everyone get that?" I asked hushed.

"Yeah, we go in there kick butt and then look for Tenten and Temari. Easy as pie." Naruto said giving me a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes, but atleast we was optimistic about this one, unlike me. As much as I wanted Tenten and Temari to be in those rooms, I didn't think they were. It was all to easy, something that Orochimaru definitely wasn't.

"On my mark." I said. Naruto and another soldier took their positions in front of the door, ready to kick it in at my command. I took a deep breath and then made the signal with my fingers. At once they kicked down the door and ran in. The rest of us followed and the ambush began.

There was a lot of dust created from the door falling in, a prefect cover but difficult to tell friend or foe.

I felt a hard object come in contact with my jaw, I guess he was no friend. It could have been a gun. The dust was starting to clear so I could make out the outline of my opponent. He was a couple inches taller than me but didn't have the muscles that I did. This shouldn't take more than five minutes at the most.

He tried to repeat his actions but this time I dodged. He stumbled a bit but quickly regained his footing. He came at me again but was too slow, even with all of my extra protecting clothing, which was hot in this scorching desert weather. This time when he passed me I turned around and elbowed him the back, sending him falling to the ground. Almost all of the guards were incapacitated or in custody, ready to be taken in.

I was surprised that no one heard the fight from the next room over.

"Sai and Shikamaru come with me in the next checkpoint. Naruto and the rest of you will stay here and look after these scum." Naruto saluted and then chuckled.

"Got it Neji!" He said a little too loudly for my tastes.

Shikamaru Sai and I went into the next room slowly, making sure not to set off any traps these nimrods had planned for us. I had a good eye for those sorts of things and so far it was clear sailing. I was surprised that we still hadn't been discovered. Sai quickly knocked down the down and we flooded in.

Was Shino serious?

These guys were a bunch of wimps. None of them had weapons and they didn't look like they had any experience in fighting at all. These guys were nothing but a bunch of amateurs. Tenten and Temari wouldn't be here. There would be no way that Orochimaru would be so stupid.

"Sai, Shikamaru, take care of these morons." Shikamaru nodded and began to call the chopper back to our location.

I guess it wouldn't hurt if I checked those rooms.

I slipped off past the last room and went to the hallways where Shino said that their likely position would be. I took a deep breath before knocking the door down.

I was right.

Tenten and Temari weren't here. All that was here was a ton of illegal weapons. Atleast we would have something to take back. I wished that it wasn't this though. I heard someone come up behind me.

I turned around to see Shikamaru. He slammed his fist into the wall.

"I knew it. This was too easy." He closed his eyes. "The chopper is waiting outside." He turned around and left for the chopper. I followed soon after. I didn't want to go back empty handed, it just wasn't something I was prepared to do.

"Neji?" It was Shino is my headset.

"Yes Shino?" I said

"Are you on the chopper?"

"No, on my way."

"Good I caught you before you left."

"What is it?"

"I found another base close by. This one looks promising." He said. "I've already instructed the pilots. One will bring the culprits back to head quarters and the other will take you all to the next base. I'll give you the rundown there."

"Alright Shino."

I got to chopper and explained the situation the others. Naruto was excited, I could've guessed. Sai didn't seem to care but Shikamaru was extra quiet. He was just as hopeful as I was, which wasn't that hopeful. I wonder why Shino thought this one was any different than the last.

:::

This base looked almost exactly like the last, nothing too important.

"We're here Shino." I said into the mic.

"I didn't want to say it but I don't think that Tenten and Temari are there." He said quieter than usual.

"Then why are we hear Shino?!" Shikamaru said into the mic. "We shouldn't be wasting time!"

"I know let me explain. My tech is picking up a lot of frequencies from in there. That leads me to believe that there could be a lot of communication equipment. In there has to be someone Orochimaru trusts with his operations. They might be useful."

Shino was exactly right. The next part of the mission was to interrogate the men we had captured, but so far we had only managed to pick up lackeys. We were going to need someone bigger in the food chain if we wanted to succeed.

"Fine." Shikamaru said.

When we got to the actual base, we weren't slow in taking down the door.

Inside, was the one person I hadn't been wishing for, but worked just fine.

"Kabuto."

* * *

_Eh... I know.  
But the next tone will be INTENSE.  
Hope you liked it. :)_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	20. Realization

_Wooot!  
Sorry this took forever, :P  
Anyway, I think you'll like this chapter.  
Thanks to all my reviewers, you guys keep me writing. :)  
Enjoy!!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Protection

Chapter 20

By: turtlechick

- Neji

"Kabuto."

Kabuto; the definition of Orochimaru's right hand man. He was the one who did almost everything that Orochimaru didn't. He was in charge of most of the weapons deals, setting up where to meet and with who, a total genius. A person would think that he might get power hungry, but no, he had stayed loyal over the years, and Orochimaru had always taken that into account. If anyone else knew where Tenten and Temari were, he would.

As I said his name, I thought I saw a hint of fear go across his face, just like his boss.

"Neji, Shikamaru, good to see you both."

"You've got atleast four guns pointed at your face Kabuto. Are you sure about that statement?" I said with a straight face.

He closed his eyes and pushed his glasses up. "Hmm, I guess I have gotten myself into quite the predicament. What will you do now?"

He was testing us. Kabuto was that kind of person. He was always the one to keep a leg up on his enemies. Most of the time, he was the mastermind behind Orochimaru's affairs. Orochimaru, gave the orders and Kabuto did what he was told, it was as simple as that. There was no lying when said that he's a genius. He didn't have an I.Q. quite as high as Shikamaru's but he was smart nonetheless.

"We're going to ask you this one question before we take you and your men for further questioning." His eyes narrowed, he knew what was coming next. "Where are Tenten and Temari?" I said sternly.

"I'm afraid I don't know who those girls are." He smiled, and that's when I lost it. I threw my gun to the ground and lunged at him. I shoved him up against the wall with my arm against his throat.

"Where are they you son of a bitch?!" He smiled again but stayed silent. This time I used my other arm to land a punch on his stomach, making him gasp in pain. "Where are they!? You know where they are!?" I yelled again, this time I felt a pair of arms pulling me back.

"Neji calm down." It was Shikamaru, he and Sai were trying to pull me off of Kabuto. "He's not worth it, and besides we'll be able to finish this later." That last comment was directed at Kabuto.

I released Kabuto, but not before slamming him into the wall one last time.

"You're right. Sai and the rest of you, take these people to the chopper, Shikamaru and I will take a look around for anything useful." Sai and the other men nodded while I picked up my gun and began to look around with Shikamaru. This was definitely an important base, technical equipment lined the entire place. I'm sure if Shino was here he would be having a field day with all of the tech. All of the information in this building could help a lot with the mission.

"Shikamaru, have you found anything?" I said loud enough for him to hear me across the room. He came in through the door.

"Nothing, you?"

I shook my head. "No, but I'm sending this to headquarters so Shino can look over it for anything we can use." Shikamaru nodded and headed outside.

"Neji before we continue, I think we should do something first, to make things easier in the end."

I didn't know what Shikamaru was talking about. What could we do now to make things easier when this was all over? There was nothing I could think of. We had pretty much screwed up everything up. But, whatever Shikamaru was thinking of would probably be a good thing, whatever it was…

:::

- Shikamaru

On the way to where we were headed, I told Neji what I wanted to do. He seemed a little shocked at what I suggested, but in then end I think he knew it needed to be done. I told him that we needed to go back to the apartment and gather our belongings. It would be much easier if we didn't have to go back when they were safe at home, easier on everyone.

I slowly opened the door and stepped in without a word. The crime scene had been cleaned, but I still couldn't get the last image of the place from my head; plates smashed, the couches overturned, paintings on the ground, a complete mess. I can only imagined what happened when they came.

Tenten probably opened the door, not even bothering to see who it was first. She was so trusting. I remember the TV was on, she and Temari were probably watching TV when they came. I don't want to think about the struggle. Just seeing the aftermath is bad enough.

Neji went straight to our room not even looking at anything else. I followed shortly after taking one more look around. When I got there he was already putting his things in the suitcase he had brought his things with when we first got here. He kept his face down, not really looking at the room we had spent three months in.

It didn't seem like that long, the time we had spent here. I wished we had gotten to spend a lot more time here, more time with them.

"You know this is for the best?" I said, he said nothing back. "Neji you know just as much as I do that we couldn't have extended the mission any longer anyway. We both know that eventually it was going to end. We failed already, all we can do now is make sure to bring them back; to their family's, friends, their lives before all of this mess. It's the least we can do now. I only wish we could've done more."

"We can't now. It's over, simple as that." He was done packing and so was I. We exited our room, without another word. I took one more look at the place we had spent so many good times in. There was no doubt that I would miss it.

:::

The next part of the mission, was the easiest of it all; interrogation. Neji and I being soldiers, almost never were able to let loose and get out all of our aggression. We were trained to stay in control at all times, to not show any emotion, ever. We had already screwed that up on this mission, letting our feelings get in the way of our duty.

Tomorrow was the real day where we would be able to get some useful information, from the people who knew this bastard the best, or atleast knew him better than us.

Today, however, we needed to make a game plan. We needed to figure out who would be the most practical to talk to, we didn't want to waste any more time. We couldn't waste anymore time.

When we entered the mission's room ,everyone was back already and back to work. We were saluted as we entered the room. It was time to check out everyone we had captured, we needed to know every single speck of their past; where they attended elementary school to where they go on weekends to have a good time. We needed to know who could even get some information.

-Neji

It was getting late, but none of us had even suggested sleep. This mission was more important than any of us. Shino hadn't gotten of his computer since we started just a couple of days. Sai, Naruto, Shikamaru and I were looking through criminal record books, checking out every single convict. It was taking longer than expected but we had already compiled a list on who we needed to interrogate.

"Neji?" Shino asked, not taking his eyes away from the monitor.

"Did you find something Shino?"

"No." He answered.

"Then what? We need to stay focused." I said flipping another page in the book I was currently sifting through.

"I have a question, about the mission."

"What?"

"You have feelings for one of them don't you?" I stopped, what was Shino saying? Had I really become that involved? "I didn't ask earlier, because I wasn't sure if you hadn't even realized it yet. I know I've only one worked one case with you and Shikamaru before, but I know you both pretty well. You were the prodigy in the academy; passed every test with flying colors. Everyone knew you were destined for greatness. Shikamaru on the other hand; lazy, unmotivated, but an I.Q. comparable to the greatest minds of the world." He was right so far.

"I read the files on your first mission together. You bickered with each other until the realization that failure was in the future became apparent. From that day on you and Shikamaru have worked together flawlessly, until they came along. This has been your first failure in a long time. Look at Shikamaru, as lazy as he is, he hasn't slept for more than twenty minutes this whole mission. The only reason I can think of why, is that you both grew feelings for one of them. So Neji tell me, have you?"

He was absolutely right. It took a computer nerd, who never got any sunlight, spent most of his time alone and probably never been in love to finally explain to me, that I loved her, I loved Tenten.

"Yes."

* * *

_Yeah, took him long enough... I know. :)  
I hope you all liked this chapter!  
On another note: I have found someone who will hopefully to adopt Belonging. :D  
Thanks for reading :)_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	21. Lies and Truths

_Yeah this took forever, but it's pretty long... :)  
Let's see...news... hmm well I recently went to a concert.  
I'll admit I didn't know the guys name when I got there... that sure has changed.  
His name is Tyrone Wells, and he's amazing.  
If you've never heard of him, go check him out... now!  
On to the story, the beggining is a bit slow but it does get better. :D  
Thanks for all the reviews you guys are awesome!!!!  
Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

**

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**

Protection

Chapter 19

By: turtlechick

-Neji

It was late, we sent most of the crew off to get some sleep. It had been almost two days since any of us had gotten any type of rest besides a quick nap between helicopter flights. Some on the newer recruits were starting to slip up and this was a process that we couldn't have any of those. They could cost us the entire mission, and we weren't about to let that happen. The only people that were left, was Shikamaru and myself.

I was glad that it was just he and I. I hadn't gotten a chance to let down my collected visage in a long time, and I wanted to get something off of my chest.

His face was stuck in another mug shot book. We had almost gone through them all. It out things into perspective; Orochimaru's crew was so big, all of these men worked for one of the most vicious and evil men in the world. The fact that there were so many was a scary thing.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hmm?" He didn't lift his eyes from the book.

"I think I realized something, about Tenten." I kept my voice smooth, but it was hard.

"You don't have to tell me Neji. I'm not stupid." He said.

"What…?" It was also scary how well Shikamaru knew the inner workings of my mind, well I guess he knew almost everyone's mind.

"Neji is would take someone completely inept with the world to not see that you had feelings for Tenten." And who made me realize that I liked her? Oh yeah, Shino, someone inept to the world.

"And what about you Shikamaru? You can't tell me that you haven't found out something about yourself." His smart ass attitude was pissing me off.

"Yes I did, but it didn't take as long as you."

"Well when did you?" He finally stopped looking through the book.

He sighed. "I guess I figured it out when we saw the apartment, after they were…gone."

"Oh."

"This is just wasting time, get back to work Neji."

:::

-Shikamaru

That process took a lot longer than we had all anticipated. But now it was time to finish the job. We all split up into teams, so that we could get to all of the criminals without wasting any more time that we didn't have. I gave Neji and myself the most important people; Kidoumaru and Kabuto. If anyone had anything useful it would be those two. We decided that we should get Kidoumaru's interrogation done first and see what we could squeeze out of him.

On the way to the interrogation room Kidoumaru was in, was the waiting room, which Tenten and Temari's family would still be in. I doubt that they would leave, I know I wouldn't. We took a quick second to check inside.

Kankerou was asleep in a chair, with Gaara right beside him wide awake. It had been about four days now, they were missing a lot of school. Anko was near them sitting in silence, she combed her long hair with her fingers and leaned back and let out a sigh. Kakashi was standing in the corner on the phone. Even though his daughter was missing, he still had a job to do. The only person that was missing was Kouhei. I assumed he was in the bathroom, but when we turned around I was wrong. He stood there; a cup of coffee in his hands, his eyes had bags under them and it looked like he hadn't showered in days.

He looked as bad as we did.

No one said anything at first, just stood there, waiting for someone to say something.

"Have you found out anything new?" I wasn't expecting him to speak first but I guess he wanted to know more about the situation. Four days without knowing the details would have made me go crazy.

I knew Neji wasn't going to say anything, so I guess I was going to have to do it.

I looked him straight in the eyes. "So far, nothing." His face dropped. "But recently we obtained a few of Orochimaru's men that might be able to give us a clue. Neji and I are headed there now, we should know something by the end of the day."

"Oh, I see." He didn't sound so enthusiastic, but I wasn't either.

"We'll find them." Neji said all of a sudden. "I promise."

"You should get some rest sir." I advised.

He nodded. "I could say the same for you." Before he walked back into the room, he put a hand on my shoulder, and smiled. He was counting on us, along with the rest of people in that room.

:::

We stepped in without a word to the interrogation room. Neji stood near the door while, I sat down at the table with a folder in my hand, Kidoumaru's file. I was surprised that it was big, but I guess that's what happens to a person when he works for Orochimaru.

"You two again? I would have thought you would have sent some new meat in for me to play with." He let out a chuckle. If I was in position, I wouldn't be laughing, especially since Neji had been so violent recently.

"You aren't that lucky." Neji snapped.

I opened Kidoumaru's file, starting from his childhood, before he got in with Orochimaru.

"Fights at school, assault to an officer, drug dealing, and that's just in middle school. Would you like me to go on?"

He glared at me. "If you must."

"Look Kidoumaru, we could care less about this garbage, I don't care if you stole money from your grandma, but if you don't tell us what we need to know, then we'll make sure you pay for all of the things in your past. How is this going to go?"

"Who says I know what you're looking for?" He asked.

"Well Kidoumaru, that sucks for you, we're leaving here with information. I suggest you start talking." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"We'll start with an easy question. Where are those two girls that you were sent to kidnap?" I said.

"I don't know."

"Bullshit." Neji snapped.

"Next question, where are they?" I said calmly.

"That's the same question!" He raised his voice, Neji's comment had made him jump.

"So answer it." Neji said.

"I told you, I don't know."

"Well then tell us something. We're not leaving without something." I said again. "Let's start at the beginning, after you captured them, what were you supposed to do next?"

He rolled his eyes, "I don't know." He answered quickly and then began to drum his fingers on the table.

He was lying.

He might not know where they were, but he knew what he was supposed to do next.

Neji scoffed and pulled out the chair next to me roughly, and then looked Kidoumaru right in the eyes. "Did you know that there are seven signs to show that someone is lying? No? Then I'll explain."

I smiled inwardly, it was all over now, we were going to get what we wanted.

"The first sign that someone is lying is that they, lose eye contact." Kidoumaru rolled his eyes. "The second thing is that they, answer quickly after the question was given." Kidoumaru answered almost right away. "One other thing is that the person has a change in body language." Kidoumaru had his arms crossed but after the question, he began to drum his fingers on the table. Kidoumaru was lying, and he knew he was caught.

"I highly suggest you start talking Kidoumaru." I said, closing his file on the table.

"What if I don't wanna?"

Neji got up out of the chair and walked around to Kidoumaru. He picked him up by his shirt and slammed him into the wall. "Where were you supposed to take them?" Neji held him tightly to the wall. If Kidoumaru didn't answer the question, I was going to have to stop Neji.

"Where!?" He yelled again.

"Ok, ok, I'll tell you, just put me down." Neji let him go, and backed away. Kidoumaru let out a couple of pathetic coughs. "After I got them I was supposed to take them to Kabuto. That's all I know… I swear." He was telling the truth.

"Good, that's where we're headed next." Neji looked at me and nodded. I grabbed Kidoumaru's file and followed Neji out of the door.

"I should have known."

"We both should have." Neji said.

:::

-Neji

The walk to the next room was a quite a ways a way. Kabuto was being held in a completely different building than all the others. He and Orochimaru were both in the place where we put our worst criminals. Kabuto's knowledge of computers makes him extremely dangerous. A few hours and a good computer could get him access to the government computers, if he wanted.

He was going to be a lot harder to crack than Kidoumaru was, but atleast we had something.

We stepped into the room and took a seat across from Kabuto. He was calm, his face, had a small smirk, and his hands were intertwined on the table. He was going to be hard to read.

"Kabuto." I said.

"Neji, Shikamaru." His lips curved into a smile.

"Kabuto, we're going to make this easy for you. Tell us where they are and then you can go back to your cozy little cell and delicious prison food." Shikamaru said.

"They? You're going to have to be a little more specific than that." Kabuto said.

I opened the folder I had been dreading to open, inside were pictures of Temari and Tenten. It had been four days since I had seen either of their faces. I took them out and placed them on the table facing Kabuto. Shikamaru was going to have to take it from here.

"These girls Kabuto, look at them." Shikamaru said roughly. Kabuto looked down briefly, we might not be able to get him on sympathy but it might get us a little bit closer. Shikamaru pointed to Tenten's picture. "This one, Tenten, she liked to play tennis, she was a friend to everyone she met and she was an excellent cook." He went to Temari's next. "Here, Temari, she takes yoga classes because she has a temper, she's never afraid to speak her mind, she thinks of others before herself, even though it doesn't seem like it. She's loud, she's rude and she is the most troublesome woman I have ever met."

I don't know who was more shocked, me or Kabuto.

Shikamaru had just spilled his guts about Temari. He had kept it all bottled up, I guess it was going to come out sooner or later.

"Well? Where are they?"

Kabuto was speechless. All he could do was stare, stare at Shikamaru. They were both pretty smart, for Kabuto to see someone who bested him in intelligence this shaken up about one person must have confused him.

"I…"

"Damnit! Where are they!?" Shikamaru yelled slamming his hands onto the steel table.

Kabuto quickly regained his composure after Shikamaru's outburst. "What do I get? What do I get in return for telling you where they are?" He said.

"What do you get? You're lucky we don't come across that table and rip to shreds for making us wait this long." I said balling my fist up.

"Make this easy on yourself Kabuto, you're already going to be in jail for the rest of your life, why not save your conscience while your at it." Shikamaru said.

Across the table he tightened his jaw and squeezed his fingers until his knuckles turned white.

"Fine."

"What?"

"I'll only say this once." He took a deep breath. "They're at the southern base, where all of the transactions go down. That's where they are."

Before I said anything I looked Kabuto over, as far as I could tell he was telling the truth.

* * *

_Wow I really love these cliffhangers... :P  
I hope you all liked this chapter :)  
OH and btw those tips on lying are true, so try it out... lol  
Thanks for reading._

_**ADVERTISEMENT:** One of my dear friends has started writing fanfcitions. Actually she has been for a while but just posted them. Her name is SolidSapphire1018, and she's really good... and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend. Currently she's writing a FMA story, so if that is your cup of tea, give her shot. I have a link on profile, so give her a gnader. lol Who knows... if she gets a lot of reviews I may just update a little sooner... :P _

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	22. Is it Really Over?

_Wow... you guys didn't like that last cliffhanger... lol  
Fortunately for you all, this one doesn't end in one...  
well I guess it depends how you look at it. :D  
I think everyone will like this chapter though :)  
Thanks to all my awesome reviewers!!!!  
Enjoy!!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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**

Protection

Chapter 22

By: turtlechick

- Neji

"W-what?" I stuttered. Did my ears deceive me? Did Kabuto actually tell us where they were? Was he telling the truth? I didn't know. Everything I had ever learned about lying, told me that he was being truthful. Were we supposed to believe him? Were we going to believe him?

"I said I'm not repeating myself. What are you still doing here?" He snapped.

Shikamaru looked as dumbfounded as I'm sure I did. He got up without a word, I followed out the door, leaving Kabuto by himself.

"Good luck." I heard him laugh right before the door closed behind us.

"Shikamaru, are we going to go?" I asked.

"I don't know. I think we should. It's the only kind of lead we've got." He said, but I could tell he was starting to doubt himself. I was too, this was too easy. Why would he all of sudden tell us where they were? There had to be a catch.

"Did you get all that Shino?" I asked through my headset.

"Yes, I've already started to gather a team. They should be there and ready to mobilize when you arrive and the helicopter. I've sent the coordinates to the pilot, so you should be set to go."

After we had quickly gathered our supplies, we hurried to the helicopter. Shino already had Sai, Naruto and a few other men on the mission with us, waiting there. They were ready, just like Shino had said. I couldn't help but be somewhat excited. What if we found them?

"Alright men, let's move out." Shikamaru said, as he and the rest of us climbed into the helicopter.

:::

Turns out, the southern base, was in India, right smack dab in the middle of the Arabian desert. And lucky for us, it was sandstorm season. Not only was the pilot having a hard time flying, but seeing the base was an even harder feat. Shino was feeding us all information on the base as we rode though the storm.

"It's definitely the biggest base we've come across. If I'm reading this correctly, this is the first base Orochimaru had built when he started his weapon's dealing empire." Great this base was going to be sentimental for him, we could expect extra security.

I tuned out the rest, knowing that Shikamaru would tell me anything I wouldn't hear. All I could think about was what Kabuto told us right before we left him.

"Good luck."

What was that supposed to mean? I wouldn't think that he would actually be wishing us luck, it wasn't in his character, and why on earth would he want us to succeed. None of it made sense. I knew one thing was for certain though, we were going to run into a few problems when we got there. Whether we found Tenten and Temari or not, something was going to happen.

I couldn't tell if this feeling in my stomach was worry, excitement, or fear.

Because of all the turbulence, the pilot was forced to land near a small village. The villagers gave us looks when we stepped out, not sure what to think of the large guns and uniforms we were wearing. They weren't exactly functional for a sandstorm.

I saw Shikamaru place a hand on his headset. Shino was giving us directions, we were going to need them in this weather. He finished talking and looked to the rest of us.

"Shino says that the storm is moving east and out of our path. We can either wait or start now."

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, almost dropping his gun. The rest of the group made a small chatter about how they agreed as well. So there was the plan; leave now and hope that Shino was right and sandstorm would clear by the time we arrived.

:::

And Shino was right, by the time we reached the base, the sandstorm had all but cleared.

We were ready to go, just waiting for the rundown from Shino.

"Shit." I had never heard Shino cuss before, it seemed so out of character.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru said through the headset.

"I was afraid of this. There are a lot of guys in there. A lot of guys in there. Too many for your small group to handle on your own. Hold on." He went silent. "It seems there's another story to the building, a basement. I'm picking up two heat signatures down there, they seem to be in a holding cell."

Was it Tenten and Temari? It could easily be other people Orochimaru's men had taken prisoner in his absence.

"Are they alive? The two people below." Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, they appear to be fine. Wait and I'll send backup." He said.

"No." I wasn't going to wait any longer.

"Neji, I know you want to check it out, but that wouldn't be wise, with all of the guards waiting for you in there. You all don't stand a chance, not with your few numbers. You need to wait for backup."

I wasn't going to budge. "Shino, send the backup, but I'm not waiting. I'll think of something." Shino's line went dead. I had better think of something fast.

Hadn't we learned something back in the academy for this type of thing? Wasn't there a procedure when you were outnumbered in man power? There had to be something.

"Does anyone have any tear gas?" Shikamaru said, breaking my train of thought.

"I've got some." Said a soldier with curly red hair.

"Yeah, I've got some tear gas." Sai said as well. "You have a plan?"

"I think so."

:::

Shikamaru's, "plan," was the stupidest thing I had ever heard, especially from him, but also knowing him, it would probably work, as crazy as it sounded. His, "plan," consisted of us throwing in all of the tear gas we had on us, inside and then carrying out an ambush. That was his almighty, "plan." He and I were also supposed to check out below for Tenten and Temari. I don't think he thought about what we would do after that.

Half of us were ready with the tear gas and the other, guns to shoot down the locks.

"Is everyone familiar with the plan?" Shikamaru said, the rest of us, readying ourselves, before we were supposed to go in. This was going to be, interesting. I wonder if we could really pull it off?

"On the count of three." I announced. "One…Two… Three!" In that moment, myself, Naruto and a few others shot our guns to open the locks while the rest of the team threw in all the gas we had. We all rushed in, so far the plan was going smoothly, until we saw the amount of men in the base. I knew that Shino had said that there were a lot of men, but I didn't imagine so many.

"HANDS ON YOUR HEADS!" I yelled as protocol, it wouldn't help here though. These men could easily see the small numbers we had and would realize, they were the ones in control. All we could do was keep our guns up and hope for the best.

"That's a funny joke, pigs." One of the bigger ones spat. "How about you do what we say?"

It was clear, we were going to have to use force.

"Not gonna happen tubby." Sai said, his gun fixed on the large man.

"Did you just call me tubby?!" I guess this guy wasn't so comfortable with his size. But then again, Sai never held back. For being a smaller guy, he was never afraid to say what came to mind first. The large man came barreling toward Sai, and in that instant a shot went off. Sai had gotten him. Our guns weren't outfitted to kill, but the rounds we had, hurt, a lot. Sai had gotten him right in the leg, he wasn't going to be walking for awhile, that was for sure. He fell to the ground in pain and clutched his leg for support.

All chaos broke loose.

Some of the men in the room were armed, and were firing off shot's left and right. Unfortunately, like us, they weren't kind enough to use non-lethal weapons. It took three of us, just to shoot them down. It was becoming a scramble to see who could take down who, first.

Even though the base was bigger than the others it was still the same build, concrete walls, dirt floors, a tall steel roof. It was like an army base, well built and sturdy. From everyone's sporadic movements the dirt on the ground was being kicked up into everyone's face's. It was now difficult to see and hard to tell who was winning. It was just like being on the front lines.

Shikamaru and I stayed close, still able to give each other direction and watch each other's back. This was becoming, out of control. We could only hope that Shino would get the backup here sooner, rather than later.

"Shikamaru, let's check out downstairs!" I yelled over the noise. He nodded and took the lead. "Sai, will you all be ok up here?!"

"Are you kidding?! These guys are a joke!" I turned my back and followed Shikamaru down the stairs that led to the basement.

I hear my heart beats in my ears, I was nervous. This could be a trap after all. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I couldn't help but be optimistic.

The basement was one long hallway, with two doors in the whole thing. We were so close. We came to the first door on the right and I got ready to kick it in, while Shikamaru aimed his gun on the lock. It went of with a bang, and I quickly kicked the door open, my gun in front, ready for any kind of surprises. Inside wasn't what we had been hoping for, just more weapons in wooden crates, no Tenten or Temari. We had one more room to check. This was our last chance.

We got into the same position, ready for door number two. Shikamaru shot the lock off and I kicked it down.

When I saw what was inside, I froze in place.

In that very room were none other than Tenten and Temari. They looked awful. The room had no windows and was just as dirty as the rest of the place. They both sat atop two metal beds, handcuffed to the bars. Their hair was dirty and matted, their lips were chapped but all that mattered was that they were ok.

Temari looked just as shocked as I'm sure we did. Tenten just sat there, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Well it sure took you two long enough." It certainly wasn't what we expected for her greeting, but Temari would always be Temari. Simple as that. Shikamaru stayed silent as he sat down next to Temari and stared at her, and then smiled and shook his head. "Shikamaru, you're creeping me out, now get us out of here.

I walked slowly to Tenten's bed and sat down next to her.

"Tenten?" Then the tears started to fall. "Hold still Tenten." I steadied my gun and carefully got her free from the bed. Before I could say another word, she was in my arms, sobbing uncontrollably. I held her close, making sure not to let her go. Just then we heard a loud gunshot, so loud it shook the building.

"What was that?" Temari asked, she was now free as well.

"I guess they found some heavier artillery…" Shikamaru said.

"They? You mean they're still up there? With guns? We're all still in danger? What kind of rescue party are you two anyway!?" Good ole Temari.

"Backup is on it's way, for now we just need to get you two to safety." I said, lessening my grip on Tenten. The four of us headed up to the stairs, Shikamaru in the back with Tenten and Temari in the middle, while I was in the front. It was still pandemonium upstairs. I still couldn't tell who was ahead.

All of a sudden a huge crash came from the eastern wall. I held onto Tenten, shielding her from whatever had happened. The wall was now on the ground. When the dust cleared, we could see what had caused the ruckus, our backup had arrived. A large tank sized jeep had smashed through the wall, and from the inside tons of men came in guns ready. We were no longer outnumbered.

We quickly grabbed Tenten and Temari and pulled them to safety. The jeep inside, wasn't the only one Shino had sent.

"Over here sir!" A man in uniform called Shikamaru and I over to one of the cars. We got Tenten and Temari settled and then started to leave.

"Where do you two think you are going?" Temari asked.

"We can't leave our team in there, we need to finish this." I said. We shut the door and ran back in. With all the extra people, all that was left was cuffing the bad guys and putting them into a couple fo trucks, ready for prison, where all of them were headed.

Luckily, neither Tenten or Temari had any serious medical energies, slight dehydration was all. The ride back was, nice. Naruto kept the most of us entertained through the whole trip.

Basically, the mission was over. We had gotten them back, no harm done. All we had to do now was deliver them back to their families. Even though they were back safe, I couldn't help but feel sad. This mission was over, and soon another one would be given to us to complete.

:::

We watched from a distance as the families were reunited. Tenten jumped into her mother's arms, her father hugging them both close. Temari did the same with her father. Then letting him go to hug each of her brothers.

I felt a tug on my arm.

"Come on Neji, it's time to go. It's over."

For once in my life, I didn't want Shikamaru to be right.

* * *

_YAY!! They found them!!  
but aww it's over...  
Fear not my lovely readers, there will be one more chapter.  
You guys know I can't let it end like that :D  
I hope you liked it,  
and thanks for reading._

_Please review and even if you don't, check out my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


	23. Homecoming

_How was that for fast?  
I have a bit of a scratchy throat, so I thought why not?  
This BY FAR was my favorite story to write. :)  
I had a lot of fun with it, even though I didn't add all the fluff I know you all love.  
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. :)  
Enjoy!!!!_

_Thanks to my reviewers: xmarachanx, randomshow, Tentenperson-KimixTayu adict, Sucoona Jatchbomb, Herrblade, SaphireSage4Ever, Nejihyuugalover, Sand-Jounin-Temari, Pyromaniac-Girl, Deyanira-chan, Musical Demon Obsessed Girl88, xXKickass-kunoichiXx, MitsukoMityuki, Tenten2295, e1nav57, Lynn Acissej, Zinam, CattyGothLoli, inspiration-arts, Love4anime, Hatake-kate, Baying-for-the-moon, Youkai Koneko, DelinquentDuo, CatxRock07, Shuhbs, LyricGirl16, waterstar, Nerd4eva, LazyBonesJones, May Kat, weapon-angel, XoTentenXgurlXo101, Nocturnal Dream, Malika-chan, rose-of-alabaster, .debi.09., PurplePanda1010, Tentendescendent1, IzWinchesterDevil, Ten'N'Ten, Erna, CarJanLucy, TT8WizziE8TT, formerlyanonoumousinsanityisFUN, Lupita._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Protection

Chapter 23

By:turtlechick

Neji-

The third one this month. It was all becoming a bad habit. We were just getting back from the third failed mission this month. Three missions in a row.

A month.

It had been that long since we had seen Tenten and Temari, and I couldn't help but think that's what has got us in this funk. Shikamaru and I were both sure that being apart would be for the best. They could get back to their lives, and we could get back to ours. It wasn't working out that well for us though. Before they came into our lives, we had never failed a mission before. Now, it was becoming almost routine.

This time around, we had almost lost half of our team. Something like that, couldn't happen again. It would take awhile for us to be put back on as team leaders. Right now we didn't deserve it.

As we walked back to our room at the base, Shikamaru sighed next to me.

"What?" He never sighed for nothing these days.

"Just thinking." He said adjusting his luggage on his back.

I bet I could guess what Shikamaru was thinking about, but I wasn't going to say anything. Neither of us needed that right now.

After we brought them back, our lives returned to normal, except for the mission failing part. We went right back to our soldier lives; guns, bad guys, and far off lands. Things normal teenagers probably don't even dream about. Who would exactly want this life?

Looking back, I couldn't even remember why I had wanted this job. I never had the best home life. My parents died when I was young and I was then forced to live with my uncle and his family. They were nice, but it just wasn't for me. I probably only took this job to fill the void, to have that excitement factor, I never got growing up. It certainly wasn't the smartest reason to pick a profession.

I could only imagine what my life could have been like if I had stayed with them; my uncle and cousins. Maybe Tenten and I could have met on different terms. Who knows maybe we could have had a chance? Now I'll never know, that chapter of our life was over. All we could do now was move on.

Easier said than done.

When we reached our tiny room, Shikamaru threw his bag on the ground and sat on his bed and then began to rub his temples. We hadn't talked much about the whole thing, it just wasn't us. I wondered if it might make us feel a little better. Probably not, we weren't much for sharing our feelings.

I began to unpack my things when our door opened. It was one of the new recruits that had been sent on that last mission with us. He had handled it better than we did.

"Umm, Tsunade wants to see you." He said, knowing what would we receive when we got there; a scolding from Tsunade. How was that supposed to make her look; her best agents failing mission and mission? She was going to be pissed.

"OK, we'll be there soon." Shikamaru said. As soon as he left Shikamaru got up. "Let's get this over with." Right now, there was nothing Tsunade could say that would make us feel worse.

The walk to her office was a long one, but when we arrived, Shizune was there waiting, a stack of papers covering her face.

"You two can go in now." She said in her quiet voice. For as long as I lived I would always wonder how she always knew who was on the other side of those papers when she couldn't see their face.

I nodded and opened the door for Shikamaru and myself, stepping into Tsunade's messy office. Paper's strewn every where, no wonder Shizune had such a big stack in her hands.

"Ma'am."

"Boys." She took a quick swig from the bottle on her desk, probably some sort of alcohol. "You've probably made some sort of assumption as to why I've called you to my office today. I know you failed your mission today, but believe it or not, this has nothing to with that."

I was genuinely shocked. I was expecting her to be throwing a fit. Even though we hadn't failed a mission in the past, we had heard the stories. And even though she had never yelled directly at us, she had screamed at an entire division before, we just happened to be walking past.

"Then what is this about?" Shikamaru asked.

"This meeting is about a new mission, a new protection mission." She said, staring at the two of us, seeing how we would react.

Words couldn't describe how I felt. The easiest thing I could say was that, I didn't want to do this.

"Tsunade, I don't think that's the best idea for us. Considering how the last one turned out."

"Wat are you talking about? The mission was a success. Orochimaru is now behind bars, along with the rest of his henchmen."

Sure, technically the mission was a success, but not for us. We had still let them be kidnapped in the first place.

"I don't want any fighting from you two. You should be glad to be getting this mission. You were requested again. I don't have any of the paperwork here." More like she couldn't find it. "You will be briefed when you arrive. I believe you know where the helicopter pad is. You leave immediately."

Without another word, we saluted and left her office. I couldn't believe this was happening. I didn't want to go on another protection mission. Who's saying I don't get attached again? That was unlikely, no one could replace Tenten. This time I was going to go and get the mission done then be finished with it.

We went back to our room and repacked our few belongings, and then headed out for the helicopter pad. We got in and put on the headphones. I was glad for those, maybe I could drown out the rest of the world and prepare myself for this new mission a little bit more.

As much as I tried to get ready for this mission, I just couldn't. Something in me told me I was letting them down. We were supposed to protect them, not these other people that we knew nothing about. I couldn't shake it from my mind. I felt like a liar, a fraud. I wasn't supposed to be here.

I was supposed to be there. Who was going to make sure that Tenten was prepared for her math tests? Who was going to take her to her tennis practices? Who was going to be there for her, when Temari sometimes couldn't? I was letting her down.

No one could replace Tenten; her smile, her personality, those childish buns that fit her so perfectly. No one could beat her, not ever. I tried to remember everything I could before I felt the helicopter start to pull down. This mission wasn't going to be personal for me. I was going to go in with a totally different mindset. No one was going to get hurt this time around.

:::

It was strange, getting out of helicopter, it felt strangely like it did when we first met them, but I had to keep telling myself, it wasn't the same.

I kept my eyes glued to the pavement as we walked towards whoever it was we were supposed to be protecting. I didn't want to see, it just wouldn't be the same.

All I could see was their feet, but that was enough to tell that they were two girl. The one in front of me wore a pair of red flip flops, her toe nails painted red as well. The other one, wore tall while stiletto boots.

No one said anything.

"Come on. You didn't think you two could get rid of us that easily?" I knew that voice, it was, Temari. As soon as I lifted my head, I found myself on the ground. Tenten had tackled me to the ground.

"Neji!" She yelled, as she enveloped me in a hug. I couldn't believe it. What was going on? Sure, I was curious, but that was just going to have to wait. It felt so good to have Tenten in my arms once more. I released her only to pull her in again for a kiss I had waited too long to give her, not caring about crossing the lines in this mission any longer.

"Come here you big idiot." I heard Temari say, and before I knew it, she and Shikamaru were in the same position as Tenten and I.

"I don't get it. What's going on?" I asked, as soon as I got a chance.

Temari laughed. "Come on, we've got our dad's wrapped around our fingers and, I may have hinted that another kidnapping could happen at any time."

"But how did you get your dad's to request us again?" Shikamaru asked.

"Believe it or not, they like you." She said with a smile.

"But how long does this last? There isn't really an immediate threat…" I said.

"Well yes, but that doesn't mean we don't need protection, we do get stalker threats every now and then. As for time, it's until we get tired of you." She laughed again and threw her arms around Shikamaru. "Now come on we're late." She took Shikamaru's hand and started to the car.

"Late for what?" I said as Tenten did the same to me.

"Actually there's a sale at the mall." Temari said.

Shopping? We just got back and they were taking us shopping? I guess I couldn't complain, it was good to be back.

Tenten stopped and stood next to me and then jumped up on her toes, so that her lips were close my ears.

"Don't worry, it's your welcome home party."

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_Yay it's over!!! (Well for me atleast) :P  
All good stories must be brought to an end. :D  
Thanks so much for reading and making this my most successful story yet!  
I haven't totally decided on what I'm going to write next,  
but due to popular demand, it will probably be full of Nejiten smexiness. :3  
I hope you liked it. :)_

_**ATTENTION NARUTO FANS**: If you watch the dubbed Naruto on cartoonetwork, I bet you've been pissed because it hasn't been on. (I sure have) I have word from a reliable source that it will returning on May 16, which is a Friday, so I'm thinking it's going to be the 17. My source also told me that it could possibly be moving to adult swim, so it doesn't have to be edited for the kiddies. Anyway, it was off for so long because they were dubbing Shippuden. WOOT!!! So as soon as the last few fillers are over, SHIPPUDEN HERE WE COME!!!  
(But if doesn't come then, it will come sometime in May)_

_One more thing, the person who I thought was going to finish Belonging for me, hasn't gotten back to me... So as it stands it's still up for adoption. If any of you are new writers, I would really recomend this for your first story. I already laid out the plot, and I'm willing to help all the way through. I already have 5 chapters done and people still want to read it. What could be better? So if anyone could help me, I'll love you forever. XD_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories. XD_

_turtlechick...out_


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